 |
| Anthony Harrison |
Teenage
victim was cut with razors and locked in a coffin in a bizarre Juju ritual. Groundbreaking
case is first in UK
where voodoo victims have revealed their ordeal. Asylum seeker becomes first to be convicted of
trafficking victims OUT of Britain
Failed
Nigerian asylum seeker Anthony Harrison, 32, used bizarre rituals to trap
children into sex slavery
A
council caretaker who smuggled two teenage girls into Britain and forced them to work as
prostitutes after they were put under a voodoo curse was jailed for 20 years.
Failed
Nigerian asylum seeker Anthony Harrison, 32, also became the first person to be
convicted of trafficking the victims out of the UK in a groundbreaking case.
A
jury at Woolwich Crown Court unanimously convicted Harrison
of a string of trafficking charges but cleared him of two charges of rape.
The
girls involved, aged 14 and 16, from Edo in Nigeria, are believed to be the
first 'Juju' voodoo rites victims to give evidence in a European court.
The
two teenagers - who cannot be identified for legal reasons - underwent a series
of perverse ceremonies which saw one of them stripped naked, cut all over her
body with razors and locked in a coffin for hours.
Another
ceremony saw her forced to drink blood while yet another involved eating a
chicken's heart.
The
Juju rituals were intended to ensure the victims were 'bound' to a medicine man
and would never reveal the truth about their harrowing ordeals.
Until
now, those who have undergone such rituals have refused to speak out of fear
that a curse would kill them.
Harrison,
of Albert Square, Stratford, east London, worked for Newham council under the
name Charles Pepple.
Passing
sentence, Judge Philip Shorrock said: 'The trafficking of young girls from
rural villages in Nigeria
so they can be compelled to work as prostitutes is a vile business.
A
'black magic' wound inflicted on one of the unnamed victims smuggled into Britain by
Anthony Harrison
A
'black magic' wound inflicted on one of the unnamed victims smuggled into Britain by
Anthony Harrison
'When
they are as young as these girls and their innocence and credulity is exploited
by subjecting them to Juju ceremonies to terrify them into obedience and silence,
it is a trade that is viler still.'
Prosecutor
Riel Karmy-Jones added: 'It is the first time the crown have been able to
persuade victims of this type of trafficking to give evidence in court.
'It
is the first time there's been a prosecution for trafficking out of the UK.'
'Now I can walk in the next room and see my
mom... it's unbelievable': Jaycee Lee Dugard reveals joy of freedom as she
tells harrowing kidnap story in her own words
Husband found guilty of murdering his wife
after daughter had recurrent nightmares of brutal stabbing
Harrison led a double life as a 'key player'
in a people trafficking gang which used bizarre rituals to trap the children
into sex slavery.
He
arrived in the UK in April
2003, claiming to be Liberian, but evidence suggested he was actually from Nigeria.
Although
his asylum application and subsequent appeals were refused, he was granted
indefinite leave to remain under the Home Office 'Legacy' programme.
In
2009, Harrison oversaw the smuggling of the girls
while he worked for Newham council.
Harrison
then shipped them on to Spain
and Greece
to work in the sex industry.
Harrison 'controlled' his young victims
using Juju witchcraft. Seen here is another injury sustained by one of the
teenagers
Harrison 'controlled' his young victims
using Juju witchcraft.
When
the trial started, Judge Shorrock warned jurors that they would hear evidence
of terrifying voodoo rituals and gave them the chance to absent themselves from
the trial.
The
case evokes memories of the five-year-old West African boy, later identified
simply as Adam, found washed up next to the Globe Theatre in 2001 after he was
smuggled into Britain.
He
had been drugged with a 'black-magic' potion and sacrificed in a Juju ritual
killing before being thrown into the Thames.
Jurors
heard how the two girls were sold by their families in Nigeria to
people traffickers.
After
being subjected to Juju rituals in Africa, they were given 'scripts' to tell UK
immigration staff that they were claiming asylum, having been forced to flee
their country because they were accused of being lesbians.
JUST
WHAT IS JUJU?
Juju
is a form of witchcraft thought to have originated in West
Africa which centres on the belief that objects can be endowed
with magical powers.
It
is widespread in Nigeria,
where such objects are made into charms believed to have the power to protect
people or influence events.
Many
of the practices of Juju are unknown as they are conducted in secret, but are
generally characterised by elaborate rituals, often involving animals.
It
is thought the word Juju means ‘fetish’ in Hausa, a language of northern Nigeria.
Juju
travelled to the Americas
from West Africa with the influx of slaves,
and still survives in some communities that retain strong ties with their
traditions.
In
more recent times, migrant workers from the region brought Juju to Britain and other parts of Europe.
Once
in the UK,
both girls were placed in care before they absconded in order to contact their
handler, Harrison.
Both
girls were from a part of Nigeria
where Juju magic or medicine 'exists side by side and in conjunction with other
religions such as Christianity.'
Ms
Karmy-Jones told jurors 'It is what many of us would immediately jump to call
black magic, or a kind of voodoo, but we would probably be incorrect in that
simplification,' she said.
'I
am not going to give you any huge detail, other than to say that Juju is
amongst those who believe in it considered to be very strong magic and is
greatly feared.
'Both
girls were subjected to ceremonies involving this magic, although each appears
to have been quite different, and it has taken a long time - two years of
painstaking work - for the police involved in the investigation to build up
sufficient trust for these two girls to talk more openly about what happened to
them.'
Jurors
heard both girls feared they would die if they exposed their captors to UK authorities.
In
a taped interview with the 16-year-old who arrived in Britain on May
30, 2009, a female officer is heard to ask: 'Do you still think that you're
going to die from talking to the police?' She replied: 'That's what they told
me but I don't know.
'At
that time, I believed it - even till now - because people are scared of it and
they said it kill people.
'I
always believed that if I talked to the police I will die - it was in my head.
'It's
beginning to change because the first time I talk to the police I was waiting,
I thought I was gonna die, but I was still waiting. Until now I haven't died.'
The
court heard the girl had been sold to the trafficking gang by her uncle, who
had also sexually abused her.
After
collecting the girl, Harrison made the girl sleep outside at his east London flat.
She
was finally picked up by immigration officials in Madrid on June 20.
Later
a 14-year-old girl was brought to the UK
and forced to work as a prostitute out of a spare room at Harrison's home
before he attempted to pack her off to Greece.
The
teenager was intercepted at Luton airport.
Giving
evidence, Harrison denied he had been involved in a sophisticated plot to
smuggle the girls through the UK
to other European destinations.
He
claimed he had been duped by a friend who told him both girls were relatives in
need of help, before they flew to Spain
and Greece,
respectively, of their own volition.
He
told the jury: 'When I was arrested the police told me I had been charged with
trafficking.
'I
was shocked. I did not know anything about any trafficking.'
From
August 2004 until his arrest at the end of last year, he worked as a caretaker
at Newham Council.
Ms
Karmy-Jones added that it was impossible to be sure of his real age or name
because he had used at least seven different aliases at various times.
Harrsion
was found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to traffic people into the UK for sexual exploitation, two of conspiracy to
traffic out of the UK
for sexual exploitation, two counts of false imprisonment and four of
conspiracy to facilitate breaches of immigration law.
He
also admitted five counts of fraud by using false names to obtain employment,
credit cards and telephones at the outset of the trial.
Welcoming
the conviction, DC Andy Desmond of the Metropolitan Police's Human Exploitation
and Organised Crime Command said: 'I would like to pay tribute to the two victims
who showed tremendous courage by talking to the police and agreeing to testify
against their captor.
'These
young women suffered the most terrifying and degrading ordeal - leaving them
emotionally, psychologically and physically traumatised.
'Most
cruelly of all, they were brainwashed into believing that if they disobeyed
their captors by seeking help, they would die.
'They
were also told that if they went to the police for help they would be handed
straight back to their captors.
'I
hope that this conviction sends out a strong message to other victims who have
suffered similar experiences that you can speak out without fearing for your
lives.
'The
MPS is fully aware of this crime. We will listen to you, we will not dismiss
you and we will do all we that we can to bring the perpetrators to justice.'
Daily
Mail
No comments:
Post a Comment