'Brothel' men appear in court (From Worcester News)

'Brothel' men appear in court

6:20pm Monday 6th October 2008 in

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FIVE men have appeared in court charged in connection with operating brothels across the West Midlands, including Worcester.

The men appeared in Worcester Magistrates Court today in connection with a police investigation into 12 brothels, including two in Worcester.

Ziqian Liu, 23, of Harvington Road, Birmingham, is charged with control of prostitution for bail.

Zhiming Zhou, 44, of Rugby Road, Leamington Spa, is charged with managing a brothel in Rugby Road, Leamington Spa.

Qiang Xu, 44, of no fixed address, is charged with control of prostitution for gain and trafficking of persons within the United Kingdom for sexual exploitation.

He is also charged, between July 1 and August 17 this year, of managing a brothel in Middle Street, Arboretum, Worcester, and of managing another brothel in Wood Terrace, The Tything, Worcester, between August 17 and August 30.

Wei Zhang, 27, of Comberton Road, Kidderminster, is charged with the control of prostitution for gain and of managing a brothel at Comberton Road, Kidderminster between June 1 and August 30.

The first defendant was represented by Chris Hilton who made no application for bail on behalf of his client.

Mark Turnbull, representing the other three defendants, made no application for bail and they were remanded in custody until the next hearing.

A fifth defendant, Bochao Nan, 25, of Church Road, Manor Park, London, applied for bail through solicitor Mark Sheward but it was refused by magistrates.

All the defendants are scheduled to return to Worcester Magistrates Court on Monday, November 3.