EXCLUSIVE

by Paul Hooper

Police who raided a five-­storey house in Folkestone discovered a "fantasyland" of kinky sex toys.

Inside they found a room with whips, chains, sex toys and frilly clothes ... and more than 2,000 condoms.

But a jury at Canterbury Crown Court found that homeowner Lindy Cruse, 51, was not running a brothel.

Prosecutor Denzil Pugh told how in March this year police officers raided the £125,000 house and discovered a variety of bondage equipment.

Cruse, who was described on the court list as 'also known as Graham', ran a number of ­businesses – Matrix ­Enterprises, Fantasyland, Retro Clothing, an Internet pay-per-view site called ­Sissies In Frillies – and also sold ­American model trains.

She said the monthly ­subscription site was aimed at "male, female and cross-dressers".

Cruse said she had placed adverts for Fantasyland in newspapers.

She denied running her home at Victoria Grove, Folkestone, as a brothel and a jury ­acquitted her.

Cruse told the jury: "I found a niche in the market. I am not classing myself as the norm so I was finding it very difficult to go originally to indulge in any of my fantasies."

She said she also rented out the rooms for people who wanted to dress up and get ­photographed.

"One of the rooms was set up for domination and ­bondage which is why it had extra ­mirrors. The other room was for ­people who just wanted to come in and cross-dress.

"If I am working and I am doing things of a sexual nature it's for my own actual, personal pleasure.

"I don't offer sexual ­services. Mine is not sexual – as in ­having intercourse – but a service for bondage and domination.

"The sexual side of that doesn't actually enter into it."

She said she might join in "if something was there and particularly turning me on, something just between the two of us but I am not going to charge for it.

"But we wouldn't offer ­horrible type of services and I didn't have prostitution at the house."