A COUPLE jailed for running a string of seedy brothels in Suffolk and Essex must now pay almost £80,000 or face further time behind bars, a court has ruled.

Josh Warwick

A COUPLE jailed for running a string of seedy brothels in Suffolk and Essex must now pay almost £80,000 or face further time behind bars, a court has ruled.

Anthony Pryor, 60, and Quing Hue Pryor, 39, of The Plain, Epping, were each sentenced to 18 months in prison in January after being found guilty of three charges of keeping a brothel for the purposes of prostitution.

But last week, Judge David Turner QC ordered Mr Pryor to pay out £70,804.44 or spend an extra two years in jail, while his wife must forfeit £8,489.34 or serve a further six months under the provisions of the Proceeds of Crime Act.

At their trial at Chelmsford Crown Court in January, The Pryors claimed they had no knowledge the premises in Chevalier Street, Ipswich and others in Braintree and Sudbury were operating as brothels.

But prosecuting counsel Stephanie Farrimond told the court that when police raided the establishments, which had been advertised in local newspapers as offering “Far Eastern Massage” and “Chinese Remedies”, they found them to be “sparsely furnished save for large quantities of condoms and cash.”

She added: “Sometimes there was little activity but on other occasions it was rather like Piccadilly Circus with up to ten male callers coming and going through the day.”

Sentencing the couple, Judge Turner told them: “These were shabby and shameful offences.

“You contested them in front of a jury and lied and lied and lied about the details and your knowledge.”