Human trafficker's sentence cut

Zhu said he had a restaurant and offered the women work

A man jailed for eight years for trafficking two Brazilian women into the UK to make them work in a brothel has had his sentence cut by half.

Hui Feng Zhu, 24, of Alderglen Road, Manchester, promised them restaurant work in the UK but then sold the pair to a brothel in Portsmouth, Hampshire.

The Chinese national was found guilty of four charges of human trafficking.

On Thursday, the Court of Appeal reduced the sentence to four years and quashed the deportation order.

The women - aged 19 and 21 at the time - had met Zhu in Brazil, Portsmouth Crown Court was told during the trial in May.

The jury heard how Zhu told them he had a restaurant in the UK and offered them work, saying they would earn six times more than they could in Brazil.

In May 2005, both women flew from Sao Paulo to London.

Zhu met them and took away their passports and return air tickets. He told them there was no restaurant work available.

The women left Sao Paulo in 2005 for Portsmouth

The court heard that the women were taken to the brothel in Malthouse Road, Portsmouth, where they were pressured to work as prostitutes.

In fear of what might happen if she said no, the 21-year-old woman agreed to work there.

Her friend refused and was sent to live with Zhu.

About two weeks later, Hampshire police officers raided the brothel and found the woman.

Zhu was given eight years for each offence, with the terms to run concurrently.