An unsuspecting dad made a fortune leading a double life running 'an escort agency' until he was finally caught operating as a pimp. Ian Cullen ran Pure Innocence and had as many as nine women under his control as part of the illegal business.
A court heard how in one instance a pregnant woman employed as a sex worker was left "extremely anxious and distressed" at a hotel. She was also instructed to pay visits to truckers on laybys off main roads.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that police were called to the Ibis hotel on Dale Street at around 8.45am on September 14, 2021 and found an expectant woman in an "extremely anxious and distressed state".
Philip Astbury, prosecuting, described how she had been a sex worker prior to meeting 45-year-old Cullen as a client before she asked to work for him. Her rates were £150 per hour - £80 of which he would keep.
However, she was often not paid the remaining £70 she had been due as he claimed that she owed him debts relating to her earlier period working for him and "would simply add to the debt". The woman, who was "addicted to class A drugs", estimated that Cullen had around nine women working for him in total.
He would require them to purchase condoms from him at a fee of five for £1, while she was given a "driver called Ken" to take her to meet customers. Many of these were said to be truck drivers, including being taken to meet one in his cab beside the East Lancs Road.
On the day in question, she told detectives that she had been instructed to meet a Romanian man who "insisted on playing a video of a gang rape". Her driver left her alone and she then tried to leave but became "suspicious" of a taxi which arrived to collect her and ultimately sought refuge with staff at the hotel.
Merseyside Police then attended Cullen's home and found a black Nokia phone "hidden down the back of a settee". This handset "contained a number of messages consistent with" the woman's account, with "requests for girls including details on their ages and bust sizes".
The number had also been used to advertise the services of sex workers on websites including Viva Street, Secret Hostess and Escort 46. Cullen has four previous convictions for six offences, including receiving 14 months for controlling prostitution for gain during 2016 using a business under the same name.
Gerald Baxter, defending, told the court: "The defendant committed this offence in 2021. His life has, in a number of ways, moved on. He has not been in any further trouble. The focus of his life does appear to be looking after his son."
Cullen admitted controlling prostitution for gain and possession of cocaine in relation to a small quantity seized from his address upon his arrest. He was handed a two-year imprisonment suspended for 18 months.
Sentencing, the Honorary Recorder of Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary KC said: "You knew exactly what you were doing and what the risks were. There is no doubt that you were doing this for financial reasons. There was an element of exploitation at the very least. You were not forcing these women to do what they were doing, but I have no doubt that you were exploiting them."
"This is a pretty miserable business for everybody involved, but you were at arm's length. You were able to enjoy substantial financial gain for doing very little. You have given various accounts suggesting that all you were doing was operating a companion service. That is complete nonsense designed by you to minimise your involvement."
"You realised, having been caught, that you were at serious risk of going back to prison. This all happened some time ago now. There is no evidence of you doing something similar since then. I am conscious of the fact that you have substantial responsibility for your young son."
"I have no doubt that you were devoted to him and are keen to protect his welfare. You need to understand that it is your commitments and responsibilities for him which are the single factor which have persuaded me not to send you to prison - that is the only reason you are not going immediate to prison today."
Cullen will be required to complete 200 hours of unpaid work, a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 20 days and a thinking skills programme, as well as being given a two-year restraining order. He replied: "Thanks my lord, thank you."
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