The ringleader of a Romanian grooming gang that raped and sexually abused vulnerable women has been jailed for 24 years. Mircea Marian Cumpanasoiu, 37, filmed himself smirking and winking to the 50 Cent song 'PIMP' outside a brothel in Dundee.
He was sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow after being found guilty of 15 charges, including rape of seven women, brothel keeping, and crack cocaine dealing. His accomplices Christian Urlateanu, 41, Alexandra Bugonea, 35, Remus Stan, 35, and Cataline Dobre, 45, were also jailed for their roles in the gang.
The victims, aged between 16 and 30, were plied with drugs and alcohol at brothels in Dundee. One victim was threatened with being banished up a tree for not earning enough money, and another was gang-raped by three of the predators.
Prosecutor Lisa Gillespie KC said the gang operated under the Human Trafficking Act, forcing women into prostitution. The offences took place at properties on Bright Street, Gellatly Street, and Perth Road in Dundee.
Police investigation Operation Recloir led to the arrests, with some suspects extradited from Belgium and the Czech Republic. The court granted non-harassment orders prohibiting the group from contacting their victims indefinitely and placed them on the sex offenders register.
