Sex-traffic gang jailed for 63 years
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A gang of Albanian sex traffickers who forced more than 20 teenage girls to work as prostitutes in London brothels were given jail sentences ranging from five to 18 years.
The five gang members, including four brothers, tricked the victims with promises of bar work or jobs in the leisure industry. But the girls were taken to brothels in west London and made to have sex with as many as 20 men a day.
Sentencing the gang yesterday at Southwark Crown Court, Judge Anthony Pitts said their £2m business traded young women like they were "cattle".
One of their victims was a 16-year-old Lithuanian schoolgirl who was rescued after her case was taken up by Lithuanian television. Agron and Flamur Demarku, aged 21 and 33 from Hounslow; Bedari Demarku, 22, from Feltham; and Izzet Fejzullahu, 32, from Hounslow, were found guilty of conspiracy charges. Agron and Flamur only were convicted of controlling child prostitution. Xavier Demarku, 28, from Hounslow, had admitted conspiracy charges.