Pimps who preyed on ‘weak and desperate’ women trafficked into Manchester and forced to be prostitutes have been locked up after a police crackdown.

The young mothers were promised work washing dishes in the UK by Andras Lakatos, 32. But when they arrived they were forced into degrading and unsafe sex with ‘many customers’, a Manchester Crown Court sentencing was told.

Lakatos’s aunt, Jenone Orgona, 57, acted as a minder to the women on the streets of Manchester’s red light areas. She told kerb crawlers the women were her daughters and that ‘business was good’.

Lakatos and Orgona took the women’s passports and lived off the thousands they earned. One managed to escape the pair, but she ended up in the clutches of Oldham-based pimp Laslo Petrovich, 38. He drove her to car washes across Manchester to ‘service’ gangs of workers.

Now Lakatos, Orgona and Petrovich, who are all Hungarian nationals, have been jailed.

Prosecutor Louise Brandon told the court that events date back to December 2015, when Lakatos flew over his girlfriend of a week on the promise of a job. She fled when he tried to make her a prostitute.

Days later Orgona flew over two young single mothers for the Bradford-based sex ring.

On Christmas Eve, their second night in the UK, the two girls were forced into sex with a group of men brought to their flat.

One was literally pushed into the room, the court heard. When she emerged in tears, Orgona told her: “Get used to it, every beginning is tough”, adding the Hungarian phrase, ‘this happens to every soldier’.

They were taken to Manchester to work as prostitutes by Lakatos for the first time on Christmas Day. For the next few months, from 8.30pm to 8.30am every night, they were forced to pick up punters in Cheetham Hill and Strangeways under Orgona’s supervision.

On one occasion one of the victims was pushed out of the car into the rain by Lakatos, who told her: “Work, you dog.”

Police launched an investigation after learning of the influx of Eastern European girls in the red light district and Lakatos and Orgona were arrested.

By that stage one of the girls had escaped the Lakatos’ ring, only to end up being controlled by Petrovich, after befriending one of the girls who worked for him.

Petrovich drove the woman to car washes to sleep with up to five men at a time while he waited in the car. She fled after he wanted to market her services on the internet.

She faced the added ordeal of having the safety of her child in Hungary threatened by Lakatos’ father, who blamed her for the arrest of his son and his sister.

Prosecutor Louise Brandon said: “These three women were the ideal targets for this type of exploitation, they came from a very poor area, they were keen to work and they had families to support, but there was no work for them in the towns they lived.

"They were promised work and a better life in the UK. The reality when they arrived was far from the picture painted at home in Hungary.”

Lakatos has convictions for pimping teenage girls and extorting prostitutes in Hungary, and Petrovich, a father-of-four, first began controlling prostitutes from his father’s club in Hungary at the age of 18, and has convictions for sex trafficking to the Netherlands and running a brothel in Hungary.

Bill Staunton, defending Lakatos, said when he spoke in interview of a girl a ‘belonging’ to him or Petrovich, he did so ‘as a football manager would speak of his players.’

“The degree of limitation is not as extreme as in other case of sexual control”, he added. “These women were not totally incarcerated, they did have access to a mobile phone, had they have wished to raise a complaint. They were not brought into the country manacled in a container.”

Craig MacGregor, defending Orgona, said she was left with ‘no prospects’ after her knees were crushed in a factory accident in Hungary.

“She joined the organisation at a later date from Lakatos”, he added. “It would appear she has received board and lodgings and not much else. The Crown say the girls were duped because they were poor and in difficult circumstances - well she was very poor and in difficult circumstances.

"Miss Orgona did not set the prices, she’s on the street herself with the girls, the whole time they are out, in the cold, in the winter.”

Richard Vardon, defending Petrovich for controlling the woman he took to car washes, said: “He became involved in this dreadful matter by chance - he is not involved in trafficking the complainant. He was involved in pimping the complainant for a week and no more, at a time when the complainant was actively engaged as a prostitute.

“He received very little by way of financial gain. She was living at his address, living under his roof, eating his food effectively for free, and was receiving some modest reward from the defendant for her services.

Watch: Woman trafficked into sex from childhood tells her powerful story

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"He was controlling the finances - but they were very modest in the extreme. Although four or five men at the car wash were referred to he suggests it was never as many as that. But the fact is, this is an unattractive case on any view of it.”

Speaking after sentence, Det Con Adam Cronshaw said: “These victims could have been your friend, daughter, sister or partner. They were dehumanised and deconstructed because of these narcissistic and controlling offenders, who were only interested in greed.

"Now they are behind bars these brave girls have hope and the potential to enjoy their lives again.”

Lakatos, of Bradford, admitted controlling prostitution for gain, human trafficking, forced labour and controlling prostitution charges and was jailed for 13 years and seven months.

Orgona admitted trafficking and forced labour charges and was jailed for eight years and five months. Petrovich, of Oldham, admitted controlling prostitution for gain and has been jailed for three-and-a-half years.

Lakatos and Orgona have both been made subject to slavery and trafficking prevention orders.

In a statement, the woman who fled the Lakatos sex ring only to be exploited by Petrovich said: “It’s had a very heavy impact on me. Being forced to this job I have lost my cleanliness. I’m disgusted with myself and I will never be my old self again.”

Judge Michael Leeming said of the woman to the trio: “She’s been so affected she’s been unable to inform her family owing to her sense of shame. She alleges she was raped on three occasions and that three attempts have been made to kill her.

“You placed this vulnerable woman in a position where she was exposed to that sort of risk by men who were potentially violent - physically violent and sexually violent.

"She holds all three of you responsible for what has happened to her, and feels her life has been ruined. Such is the impact offences like this can have on the innocent.”

The grim reality of Manchester's seedy underbelly - swarming with kerb crawlers as women sells themselves for as little as £30

Ahead of the trial of Hungarian traffickers who forced women to sell sex on the streets of Manchester, reporter Todd Fitzgerald spent a night with GMP patrolling the city’s ‘red light’ districts.

It’s a bitterly cold Thursday night in Manchester. Just after 7pm.

“How long have you been here?”

“A month. Please...police, no business.”

A Romanian prostitute, just 23-years-old, shoos away a police officer. She’s standing on a dark corner in Cheetham Hill, barely covered, smoking a cigarette.

Det Con Adam Cronshaw tells her he just wants to check she’s okay. She’s not interested. He’s losing her customers.

We drive away. A few seconds later, she directs a punter to a car park. She looks back at us and smiles as she flicks her cigarette and trots off to have sex with a stranger.

This is the reality on the streets of Manchester today. The city’s seedy underbelly, swarming with kerb crawlers driving endlessly around a dingy industrial estate looking for a cheap thrill. Young women offering sex for as little as £30.

Down the road, people tuck into steak at a restaurant, seemingly unaware of what’s going on a hundred yards away.

A flashy BMW creeps by. The driver must only be 20-odd. A clapped-out Ford swings around a corner. That guy’s in his 50s. Young or old, they're after the same thing.

We pull up and speak with a woman DC Cronshaw knows well. She says she’s ‘fine’ and asks how he is.

This woman, confident and charming, is here of her own accord and insists she hasn’t been trafficked into the country. But who knows who’s watching her.

We move on. A few minutes later, the same woman steps into an Audi. DC Cronshaw pulls the driver over.

He claims he knows the woman and is ‘taking her to the shops because she’s cold’. He’s calm, almost arrogant. This isn’t the first time he’s used that line on an officer. The man gives his details and is on his way, prostitute in the passenger seat.

There’s no point police arresting these women - or their customers. Vilifying sex workers will only make things worse.

Police want to nail traffickers and pimps. Forcing business underground will leave them with little chance of doing that and put more women at risk.

Building relationships with these women is key. Trust is what led to three victims speaking out against Lakatos and co. And it’s what will free more of these women.

We spot five or six women in this area - and another three or four around Piccadilly. Some of them know DC Cronshaw and seem to appreciate him keeping an eye on them. Others wave him away, uninterested.

Manchester’s ‘red light’ districts are worked almost exclusively by Eastern European women nowadays.

They’re usually members of the Roma gypsy community, trafficked into the UK, groomed by men who promise them a better life. They tell them they love them, showering them with gifts before forcing them onto the streets to sell their bodies.

Women from countries such as Hungary and Romania started coming into Manchester around five-years-ago. Numbers have rocketed recently.

Those working on the streets are in the minority. Most do their business in the dozens of ‘pop-up’ brothels across Manchester, which disappear as quickly as they’re set up.

Women, some as young as 18, are physically and mentally abused. They’re trapped, traded like cattle.

English women are now rarely seen on the streets. Their Eastern European counterparts have taken over. They’re cheaper, mostly drug-free and in abundance.

They can make hundreds of pounds a night, typically charging £30 for sex. But if they’re working for someone, they won’t see a penny of it. They’re lucky if they get a hot meal and escape a beating.

“There’s a common misconception that the vast majority of women working on the streets do so willingly,” DC Cronshaw says.

“Many are exploited and forced to work in fear of their pimps, often having to endure a miserable existence, being made to have sex with different men over ten times a day, seven days a week.

“They may not feel they can trust the police and pimps often threaten to hurt their families back home. They feel they have no-one to turn to for help.”

Police can only do so much. Officers can keep their eye on women working the streets. But there are hundreds more advertised on the internet, working in rented-out flats, hotels and grotty bedsits.

There’s a sense they’re only scratching the surface. It’s taken police a few years to understand human trafficking, but they’re getting there. The latest result proves that.

They’re determined to take down the kingpins and patrol the streets at night looking for those living lavish lifestyles at the expense of these vulnerable women.

Office also want punters to realise that some of these women aren’t selling sex out of choice. They’re powerless. Beaten, psychologically tortured and with no escape.

“I’d ask men who pick young women up on the streets to consider that each will have their own story to tell of how they ended up working in the sex industry,” says DC Cronshaw.

“It’s likely that they will be working for a pimp and all their hard-earned money will be going to him.”

We pass a few more women near Piccadilly. One is worryingly thin, clutching a polystyrene cup of tea, shaking, her eyes almost glazed over.

Another is on the phone. She looks scared and cold. DC Cronshaw tries to call her over. She shoots him a steely glare and tells him ‘no’.

Around the corner, we pop into MASH.

Manchester Action on Street Health has been based around here for the past seven years and has been helping women working on the streets of Manchester for the past 25.

From sexual health checks and condoms to a warm place to sit and a listening ear, it’s a godsend for many women.

“It’s about trust,” chief executive Cate Alison tells us.

“A lot of these woman don’t trust the authorities in their own countries, so don’t over here. This is a neutral space where they don’t feel under pressure.

“They know they can trust us. We’ve been here for so long. Women working on the streets will tell other women this is a safe place.”

MASH is about emotional health as much as sexual health. If these women are ever going to open up to the police, it’s likely they’ll talk to Cate’s team first.

“It’s about understanding them,” she says.

“You have to talk to them, understand them. Last year, we saw over 800 women. Around 30 per cent were migrant workers.

“Often, their English is poor, they have little education around sexual health and they’re terrified. We’re able to support them and help them break away from those exploiting them.”

It’s reassuring to know a place like this exists. But it’s tragic it needs to.

“I know we’ll never be able to end prostitution, but at least we can make it safer for all concerned by targeting the pimps and traffickers,” says DC Cronshaw.

“We are talking about saving a person from modern slavery and a lifetime of misery. These issues will only be changed when our communities step up and actively confront them.”

This has been a quiet night, DC Cronshaw tells me. In the height of summer, there would be up to 30 women in Cheetham Hill’s ‘red light’ district - and probably another 20 around Piccadilly.

Even so, it’s shocking.

Behind the fake smiles and giggles, some of these women look broken. It’s heartbreaking.

The next night, I meet up with a few friends for a drink in the city centre. A cab takes me past where I’d been with DC Cronshaw near Piccadilly the night before.

A few weeks ago, I’d barely have taken a second look at the lonely woman standing on a street corner.

This time, my heart sinks. She looks tired and afraid.

This is the reality on the streets of Manchester today. And it’s terrifying.