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A FORMER prostitute who worked for Scotland's only convicted sex traffickers has spoken of life inside their multi-million-pound empire.

Stephen Craig, 34, and Sarah Beukan, 22, were jailed this week after admitting moving 14 men and women to addresses in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Belfast, Cardiff and Newcastle.

Last night, a 36-year-old married mother-ofthree, Susan, who worked out of flats run by Craig, told how one women worked for him when she was six months pregnant and how another was traumatised after having sex with 12 men in succession.

She said: "Any man who runs women like that is a bad guy. He was always on at the women to get more customers. There was a lot of pressure to make money.

"He never hit the girls but you wouldn't have stitched him up. He was well connected and he was always sniffing from taking coke.

"I thought Sarah was almost worse. I was more frightened of her. She was always off her face and she had this evil look in her eyes. She was madly in love with Steve and she oversaw a lot of the day-to-day stuff."

The couple ran four brothels in Glasgow, at Argyle Street, Wallace Street, Newton Terrace and Clyde Street.

They also ran a brothel in Aberdeen, at James Street, and one in Queen's Square, Belfast.

In total, 23 witnesses were identified, including women working as prostitutes from Brazil, Bolivia, Nigeria, Fife, Glasgow, Inverness, Airdrie and elsewhere in the UK.

Susan revealed that an African girl worked for Craig while she was heavily pregnant. Another woman was badly injured after Craig sent her to have sex with 12 men at a disused gym in Glasgow's east end.

Craig referred to the women who were trafficked as "tourers" and the girls themselves called travelling between cities "going on tour". They were moved from brothel to brothel to maximise profits and give customers variety.

The girls joined his organisation of their own volition but women who testified against Craig spoke of being too scared to leave.

He threatened to pour boiling water down one woman's throat if she moved on.

The girls were put on websites such as Escort Scotland and had to pay for photographs and much of the newspaper advertising themselves. Craig also paid £50,000 in advertising.

Susan said: "We were issued with a password 'hardcore' and told to update the website regularly. Sarah went mad if you didn't.

"Some of the girls were young and absolutely beautiful, especially the Russians, but there were other pictures where he would keep the girl's body but use someone else's face."

There were regular calls to the brothels from foreign gangsters who wanted to place women that they "owned" in Craig's flats.

The girls referred to prostitution as being on the "frosty couch".

Some of the flats Craig used were in upmarket areas and the three-bedroom property in Newton Terrace appeared like any other home with toys in a cupboard and family photos on show.

If the girls were contacted directly through their adverts, they would answer the door to the client and take them to a bedroom.

a call to the house, the punter shown to the sitting room partition pulled back to reveal a of girls, dressed in underwear, pants or miniskirts.

If it was would be and a pa selection hot pant Some for sex night. paid t Som woul New told T girls would earn as little as £50 sex, others could make £1500 for a A third of their earnings was to Craig.

Sometimes, the vice gang boss would send a group of his friends to Newton Terrace and the girls were to "keep them sweet" for free. There would be free booze and an abundance of cocaine.

Like the rest of the women, Susan was working independently Su before being "recruited" by the pair. She worked for Craig for six months in 2009.

Although he was only charged over offences from that date, Susan said he was already an established business by then.

The clients were often married professionals and Susan said she saw a councillor, policemen, footballers and lawyers visiting.

But she added: "They looked so normal but what they asked for wasn't. That was the difference. They wanted what they couldn't get at home and that was pretty horrible."

Susan had a part-time cleaning job and went on the game to earn more money when she got into debt. She said: "I realised when I was feeding my kids and not eating myself that I had to do something."

She started on the streets, on what is known as the drag, and was shown the ropes by other women. Susan said: "I remember the first client I had pulled up in a red Land Rover and took me to Kelvingrove Park in Glasgow. I was terrified and wondered if I would ever see my kids again."

She progressed to saunas, where some owners wanted to "test drive" girls by having sex with them before hiring them.

Susan said she got through the mechanics of having sex with strangers by keeping her mind on other things: "I used to think, should I paint the kitchen wall duck-egg blue? What will I get for the kids' tea?" One client used to want her to empty an ashtray in his mouth, a policeman had her walk over his back in boots and she was once whipped so hard with a belt by one punter that she developed blisters.

She said: "I went home every night and scrubbed myself in the bath. I knew what I was doing was wrong and I felt such guilt."

One of her busiest times was the World Pipe Band Championships at Glasgow Green. She revealed: "I would have 10 in a day then. It was too much, I couldn't stand it."

She preferred older married men, saying they tended to treat her better than young punters.

Susan said: "If I got £50 for sex, I thought I was rich. One night I got £400 for an overnight and it paid for my kids' entire Christmas."

Her husband thought she worked at a chippie and only discovered she was a hooker when he turned up at the shop she was supposed to work at and found out she wasn't there.

She carried on for more than a year that and although her husband begged to stop, she refused. They are still together.

When her mother learned what she was doing, she called her daughter a "whore". Her teenage son found out when overheard Susan arguing with her about it. posed here. r after ed her ether. e hore". en he mum and quit a matter e. past the She no longer works in prostitution after leaving Craig, fearing it was only of time before he was raided by police. She said: "I still cry when I walk drag. I still have nightmares. "Prostitution was the quickest money made but it was the hardest. Now I would scrub 100 stairs for minimum wage than back to that."

ey I ever uld rather han go GLASGOW slaver's I Sex to threats pour boiling ex-pal al down water girl's throat By Chris Musson c.musson@dailyrecord.co.uk