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| Pair jailed over £1m Birmingham Libra Club brothel | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A father and son who ran a brothel which made more than £1m per year have been jailed. | |
| Achilleos Neophytou, 66, and his son Stefanos Neophytou, 25, ran Birmingham's Libra Club, which attracted up to 200 clients per day. | Achilleos Neophytou, 66, and his son Stefanos Neophytou, 25, ran Birmingham's Libra Club, which attracted up to 200 clients per day. |
| The pair, who had admitted keeping a brothel used for prostitution, were each jailed for 27 months. | The pair, who had admitted keeping a brothel used for prostitution, were each jailed for 27 months. |
| Club manager Martin Tierney was given a suspended 10-month jail term. Three women were handed community orders. | Club manager Martin Tierney was given a suspended 10-month jail term. Three women were handed community orders. |
| For more on this and other Birmingham and Black Country news | For more on this and other Birmingham and Black Country news |
| All six defendants had previously pleaded guilty at Birmingham Crown Court to offences committed between 1 January 2010 and 1 February 2015. | |
| 'Conveyer belt of prostitution' | |
| Judge Richard Bond said Achilleos Neophytou was the "controlling mind" of the club, which was advertised as a "massage parlour". | |
| He said officers who raided the property in February 2015 found there was "not a massage table in sight". | |
| Instead, they discovered a "highly-organised conveyer-belt of prostitution", where sex workers had been taken advantage of. | |
| "Women don't ordinarily choose to become prostitutes," he told the court. | |
| Neophytou and his son were told they would serve half of their sentence in jail and the remainder on licence. | |
| Photographer, Tierney, ran the club and took publicity shots, the court heard. The 50-year-old, of Sheffield Road, Sutton Coldfield, received a sentence suspended for two years. | |
| "Madams" Anita O'Donnell and Marilyn Egan, both 55, were given 12-month community orders. | |
| The pair, of Slade Lane in Hall Green, and Elmwood Court, Edgbaston, were also given electronic tag curfews. | |
| Club receptionist Ogun Olufunlola, 30, of Roseby Street, Springhill, was handed a 12-month community order. | |
| The police raid involving 50 officers followed a series of incidents at the club, including an arson attack, a firearms incident and several outbreaks of disorder. | |
| Officers said at the time up to 20 women had been working there. | |
| A proceeds of crime investigation will take place to find out what happened to the money made at the club, Mr Bond added. |