Mother 'disappointed' by human trafficking sentence

A 61-year-old man who exploited four "extremely vulnerable" young women has been handed a six-year sentence.

Derek Brown - originally from Lisburn but now with an address listed as HMO Maghaberry - was sentenced for human trafficking, controlling prostitution for gain, sexual assault, paying for sexual services and drugs-related offences.

He will serve three years in custody and three on licence.

Deborah Hanna, the mother of one of Brown's victims, said she was "disappointed" by the sentence, but added that no "amount of time would have been enough".

Brown sat in a wheelchair with his head bowed throughout the hour-long hearing at Craigavon Crown Court on Thursday.

Judge McColgan told the court that while Brown had made every effort to "repeatedly portray himself as the good samaritan", he was "preying on some of the most vulnerable young women in our society".

During a series of interviews, Brown had told police he was trying to help the women get off drugs, and claimed he drove them to appointments with doctors, social workers and drug treatment programmes.

He eventually entered guilty pleas to 13 offences in September last year.

The charges against him cover a timespan between 8 October 2016 and 14 June 2023.

Caitlin Hanna, who was trafficked, spied on and sexually assaulted by Brown, had just turned 21 when she died from a suspected drug overdose in his former home in Lisburn in March 2022.

Judge McColgan told the court that Brown drove Caitlin to sex appointments, helped her set up a profile on a sex for sale website and supplied her with drugs.

"On one occasion he was to take her to meet a client however she told him she was too sick to go so he gave her heroin from the clock in the kitchen to smoke so that she would go," the judge said.

Speaking after Brown's sentencing, Caitlin's mother, Deborah Hanna, said: "It's just very disappointing regarding the charges because it doesn't really send out a very strong message to people that there are severe repercussions for offences against women."

Judge Donna McColgan KC told the court she had read the "poignant and heartfelt" victim impact statements from Ms Hanna, and Caitlin's grandfather, Raymond, as well as a further victim impact statement from one of Brown's other victims.

Ms Hanna said she was "consumed with haunting images of [Caitlin] being trafficked across the city we call home to strange men who had no regard for her body".

During her sentencing remarks on Thursday, Judge McColgan took each victim in turn, outlining how the first woman on the indictment met Brown through another man named Kenneth Harvey.

Harvey asked the woman "to sleep with three friends of his for money" and further that Brown "would come and collect her", which he did.

Last December Harvey, from Old Road in Lisburn, was handed a two year sentence for human trafficking of that victim.

Brown took the victim to and from appointments with clients over many months and the judge said this victim "ended up staying with the defendant at his home".

The court heard that during the time this woman was staying at Brown's home, Caitlin and another victim were also there and Brown disclosed to this victim that he had "performed a sex act upon Caitlin without her knowledge".

Another victim told police she thought he was "making sure that she was safe" but that as time went on, she realised that Brown "on the one hand would encourage her to get her life back on track and get off drugs but on the other, he provided her with drugs for sex".

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Det Insp Rachel Miskelly said: "The courage of the young women who have spoken up is truly inspirational, and in stark contrast to the appalling actions of Derek Brown."

She said that while nothing could undo Brown's actions and "their unimaginable impact on victims and their loved ones", she hoped to "encourage any individual who has suffered to come forward".

"I promise we will treat you with the sensitivity and respect you deserve. We will listen to you, and we will help you," she said.

Regarding the sentence, the judge said that Brown's eventual admittal of guilt and his age and ill health were mitigating factors.

However she said there was a litany of aggravating features including the protracted period of offending, the multiple victims who are vulnerable, the harm caused to them and the "degree of planning and premeditation" in their exploitation.

As well as the six year sentence, Brown will remain on the sex offenders register for an indefinite period.