Sex slave gang 'tip of iceberg'

Maka, Barjami and Pisha were jailed for a total of 40 years

Human traffickers who sold a teenager into the sex trade for £4,000 may be the "tip of the iceberg", police say.

The Lithuanian girl was lured to Britain with a promise of a summer job but found herself sold as a sex slave to a man at a London Tube station.

Three men, all from eastern Europe, were jailed for a total of 40 years at Sheffield Crown Court on Wednesday.

There are currently 16 investigations by forces across the country involving the exploitation of Lithuanian women.

It is almost impossible to imagine the ordeal she has been through Insp Scott Green

The girl, who has now returned to Lithuania, had her passport taken from her as soon as she arrived at Heathrow Airport in summer 2004.

Insp Scott Green, who led the investigation, said she was sold for £4,000 and was working in a brothel in Birmingham just two days later.

The court heard on Wedneday that she was re-sold for amounts of £3,000 and £1,500 to seven different men across the UK.

She was also repeatedly raped and forced to work as a prostitute in Sheffield and the Midlands.

'Harrowing' case

The teenager only escaped with the help of three women at a Sheffield nightclub after she broke down in tears and explained, in broken English, what had happened to her.

The women went to distract Ilir Barjami - her "owner" at the time - as the girl ran bare-footed through Sheffield to the nearest police station.

Speaking on Thursday, Mr Green said: "We were very pleased at the sentences. This was a truly harrowing case which shocked everyone who worked on it.

This case has echoes of the days of slavery Judge Roger Keen

"It is almost impossible to imagine the ordeal she has been through. She is still extremely traumatised.

"We have to consider that cases like this could be just the tip of the iceberg.

"Many women who are trafficked into the UK are told they will be arrested or deported if they go to the police. I want to make it clear that this will not happen."

On Wednesday, Shaban Maka, 24, originally from Macedonia, Ilir Barjami, 25, from Kosovo, and 21-year-old Albanian Xhevahir Pisha, who lived in Coventry, were all found guilty of various trafficking charges.

They were jailed for 18 years, 15 years and seven years respectively.

Judge Roger Keen said: "Human trafficking is an international problem. It is an activity which is degrading and produces untold misery to girls throughout the world.

"This case has echoes of the days of slavery with a girl being sold by one procurer to another."