Brothel boss jailed

Razvan Ursu was sentenced at Preston Crown Court on Friday having pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing.

The 33-year-old now faces deportation.

Detectives started tracking Ursu in March 2015 after receiving intelligence women from Romania were using websites to advertise services as prostitutes in the Blackburn area.

Following extensive work, officers identified links with Suffolk Police relating to an organised crime gang based in Ipswich. Suffolk officers had executed a warrant at an address in 2013, finding three males and four Romanian females. One of the males was Razvan Ursu. The group were interviewed and bailed pending further enquiries, but the group, including Ursu, failed to answer bail.

In May 2015, a man was seen by officers leaving an address in St Stephen’s Avenue, Blackburn and following enquiries, identified as Razvan Ursu.

It was quickly established Ursu was driving females around the area, collecting and dropping them off at airports and ports. He was also heavily involved in the prostitution of these women.

In June 2015, officers raided brothels in Ford Street, Burnley and St James Road, Blackburn, where Ursu was caught trying to escape with a female, a Romanian national.