A MAN and woman have been jailed for a total of two and a half years for the trafficking and exploitation of women for the sex trade.

Gerard Carroll, 51, of Whetsted Road, Five Oak Green, Tonbridge, admitted trafficking women within the UK for sexual exploitation and conspiring to control prostitution for gain and was jailed for 18 months.

Moi Cheng Chua, 47, an illegal immigrant from Malaysia, admitted controlling prostitution for gain at Mercer Street, Tunbridge Wells, and money laundering. She was jailed for 12 months and will be deported on her release.

Maidstone Crown Court heard that Chua worked at the house in Mercer Street, where young Asian women were being used as prostitutes.

Chua was responsible for the premises and regularly banked hundreds of pounds into various bank accounts.

Police identified Carroll as a significant member of a much larger crime group responsible for human trafficking within the UK.

Carroll taxied women between railway stations, the Mercer Street brothel and a property in Quarry Hill Road, Tonbridge, which had been converted from offices to contain a series of bedrooms.

Carroll also used a house in Elm Lane, Tonbridge, where he lived with a prostitute.

Carroll's involvement even ran to the placing and paying for advertisements in local newspapers and payment of rent and bills at another house being used as a brothel in St Andrews Street, Lincoln.

He regularly transferred money to Spain where he owned a number of properties.

The pair were arrested by Kent Police's Serious and Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) in March after an investigation into human trafficking for the sex trade.

Five women were removed from the brothels by police. They admitted they had come to the UK illegally and had been employed into the sex trade by people unknown to them and of whom they lived in fear.

Most were also in debt to these people for their travel cost to the UK, and were forced to pay off this debt through prostitution.

All five women were transferred to UK Border Agency who will be dealing with their welfare.

Det Insp Tom Richards, of SOCU, said: "Human trafficking isn't a problem specifically in Kent but we are aware of activities of crime groups who use the county as a temporary base for their criminal activities. It is believed that the women identified in this investigation were transported around the country and not just used as prostitutes in Kent.

"Trafficking victims are typically recruited using coercion, deception, fraud, the abuse of power, or outright abduction.

"Threats, violence, and economic leverage can often make a victim consent to exploitation. Many victims do not speak English well and they come from countries where endemic corruption means they are distrustful of official agencies such as the police. Fear of retribution against them and their families also stops them from reporting abuse to the police.

"Kent Police remains committed to ensuring that vulnerable victims exploited in this vile trade are identified, rescued and provided with appropriate support and protection."

Anyone with information bout human trafficking or criminal gangs believed to be responsible for trafficking can contact Kent Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 in confidence.