Sex worker jailed after prostitution crackdown in Walsall
A sex worker has been jailed and two suspected kerb crawlers will appear in court this month as police in Walsall continue to crack down on prostitution.
Emma Mackay, aged 28, was jailed for four weeks at Walsall Magistrates Court.
The court heard that Mackay had breached her criminal anti-social behaviour order(CRASBO) three times in August and September.
The two-year CRASBO was granted in August 2012 for previous convictions for prostitution and prevented her from entering an area in Walsall where sex workers are known to frequent, the court heard.
She lives at Summerdale Walk in Leeds.
Today two men were appearing at court accused of soliciting for the purposes of prostitution.
Unemployed Davinder Raju, 25, from Broadway in Delves and Azhural Mohammed Haque, 47, a driver from Castle Road in Tipton, will appear at Walsall Magistrates Court.
Meanwhile Sarah Houghton, 30, of Hough Road, Pleck will appear at the same court later this month following her arrest on Monday in Milton Street, Palfrey.
She was later charged with loitering for the purposes of prostitution and has been bailed to appear on September 25.
The continuing work to clampdown on prostitution is part of a force-wide operation named Operation Scarlet.
Pc Stacey Paterson, who leads on the operation, said: "We have been acting on complaints received from local residents who have said they are fed up of seeing suspected sex workers using their streets to tout for business. We understand that sex workers are a vulnerable group of people and will do everything we can to help them get off the streets.
"However, if they do not want help we have no choice but to enforce the law.
"If we suspect someone is a sex worker we give out street cautions. If they receive three cautions within a 90-day period then we will put them before the courts.
"When it comes to tackling kerb crawlers we will prosecute. We understand that prostitution affects communities and we will continue to clampdown on people who come into Walsall to use sex workers."
Since the launch of the blitz in May 2012, 94 kerb crawlers have been issued with warning notices with 15 arrested and prosecuted. A total of 30 sex workers have been arrested for loitering and soliciting and 34 have been arrested for breaching CRASBOs.
