A BRAZILIAN illegal immigrant faces deportation from the UK after she admitted keeping a brothel in a Scottish city.
Jossara Santos, 38, claims she fled from drug gangs in Brazil to the UK, where she hoped to start a better life.
However, after failing to find legitimate employment in London, she travelled to Dundee, on the suggestion of a Brazilian friend, t
o become a prostitute.
Now she faces deportation to Brazil, after pleading guilty at Dundee Sheriff Court to charges of keeping a brothel.
The court heard how, after working for several months in a Dundee brothel and sending money back to her struggling family back in Brazil, Santos rented a flat on Blackness Road, Dundee, in her own name.
She shared the flat with another prostitute, a woman known as Amanda, but claimed she did not "manage" Amanda, or receive any monies for her professional services.
Yesterday, Jim Eodonable, the depute procurator-fiscal, told the court that Santos advertised her services in a newspaper, with clients paying £60 for sex.
He said: "One client contacted her and was directed to her flat, where he received oral and full sex by a blonde female called Amanda. He paid £135 for one hour.
"On this occasion, the accused was also in the flat, and while the client was utilising the services of Amanda in the bedroom, she was with another man in the living room."
However, the depute fiscal conceded that there was no evidence that Santos "actually managed" Amanda or received any money from her services.
Tayside Police officers raided her flat on 11 March and found condoms, sex toys, a laptop, three mobile phones, a newspaper and £2,500 in cash, hidden under a chest of drawers.
Later, when Santos was taken to police headquarters, officers found a blue notebook with details of her earnings between 3 December, 2007, and 10 March, 2008, as well as a further £690.
Santos admitted that she had been working as a prostitute from her home address.
Her solicitor, Gillian Allardyce, told the court: "She has three children in Brazil, her mother has heart problems and her stepfather is blind.
"The income from her father's pension is small and she has sent money home, essentially to keep them.
"She came here with the hope of being able to secure employment – not this type of employment, but she fell into it at the suggestion of a friend also from Brazil."
She added: "You could describe her as a self-employed person working from home, albeit in illegal employment."
Sentence was deferred until next month for reports, while a deportation order has been served.
The full article contains 448 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
