never go away OVER the past few weeks I have been reading with interest the action that is going to be taken by the Greater Manchester Police in relation to supposedly cleaning up the area of prostitution.

Firstly my deepest condolences go out to family and friends of Carly Bateman in what should be a happy time at Christmas and I hope that the perpetrator of this offence is caught swiftly and given his due justice.

I was a serving police officer for just over 10 years with the Metropolitan Police Force in London and during my time I served two six-month postings on the Kings Cross Vice Unit.

During my time I quickly learned that prostitution and drugs come close in hand and that leads on to other things, such as burglary and robbery, to feed their addiction.

I arrested girls as young as 13 who were openly selling their bodies on the streets of the capital for as little as £10.

What sickened me is that very little help was offered to them and more often than not they were back on the streets plying their trade again within days, sometimes hours.

I also found out from talking to the girls that when they attended court, if a particular magistrate was sitting, they would plead 'guilty' as he was one of their clients and they would get a somewhat reduced fine whereas if any other magistrate was sitting they would plead 'not guilty' and have the case adjourned, hopefully to be heard in front of the other magistrate next time.

Also during my time and when patrolling in plain clothes I stopped several people who came from very high-class backgrounds such as barristers, fireman, solicitors, bank managers, even police officers and a prison officer who was still in uniform.

More sickeningly, on one occasion I even arrested a primary school teacher who when caught in the act in a dark, dimly lit backstreet in Kings Cross with a prostitute in his car, bundled the girl out on the muddy ground and sped off at high speed. A chase ensued and he was arrested.

He pleaded guilty and was fined for both soliciting and driving offences. He also lost his job as a teacher.

So for those of you out there who think that the only people who enjoy the services of prostitutes are from working class backgrounds please open your eyes, I know they are not.

It appears, as in London, under age girls are selling their bodies for money in and around the Bolton area.

This trend will never cease. When you talk to the girls you can see why. The money they can make is unbelievable, some make as much as £300 a night. If she works seven days a week this amounts to £2,100 a week. Where else would a teenager get that sort amount of money? Nowhere.

While I welcome pro-active policing to combat this problem I also know from experience that if you flood a particular problem area all you do is drive the girls out to other locations and it becomes a problem for another area.

Alternatively, the girls will go and work for "massage" clubs or even work from home but they won't stop because they are used to having large amounts of money.

If a girl works from her own home alone there is no criminal offence. There has to be two or more to make it illegal and then it becomes a brothel. So you have to ask yourself the question, is it safer to let the girls stand in a designated area where they can monitor themselves and look after each other or is it safer to let one girl work alone in a flat with strangers coming in all day and night?

Don't get me wrong I do not support prostitution in any way shape or form as I have seen what it can lead to, ending in tragedy like it did for poor Carly.

But those of you who think this problem will go away are sadly mistaken, no matter how many police officers are put on the beat.

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