Having spent a prison sentence in Britain, a convicted sex trafficker, Ion Raducan, was nabbed on Brighton seaside a little over eighteen months after being repatriated to Romania.
36-year-old Ion Raducan, also Ion Paun, returned to Britain under a false name from no established residence.
Hove Crown Court was informed that Ion Raducan had made multiple efforts to enter the nation, some successful; his wife and five children were residing there.
He booked a car in Brighton in July once here, and last month, he was apprehended by Sussex Police Tactical Firearms Unit personnel in Marine Parade, Brighton.
Ion Raducan acknowledged last Wednesday, October 11, breaching a deportation order and seeking and obtaining leave to enter or remain in the nation by dishonesty at Hove Crown Court.
He also entered a guilty plea to violating a two-year-old slavery and trafficking prevention order imposed at Manchester Crown Court.
Ion Raducan was imprisoned for 27 months for planning or supporting the transportation of a person for exploitation as a prostitute under contemporary slavery rules, so the order was imposed.
James Norman, prosecuting, before Hove Crown Court that Raducan had ten convictions overall for 14 offences between 2017 and 2021, most of them “relatively minor” related to dishonesty and driving.
Defending, Andrew Stephens said: “He was booted out – to use an inelegant phrase – but comes back and he keeps coming back.
“He lived here.” His wife holds settled status and is also a Romanian national. Their youngsters are ten months to nine years old in five numbers. Three of those youngsters were born here.
“They stayed when he was deported. The birth occurred here. Their life here is what they know. They were at peace. The youngsters know England as their home. Even the Romanian-born have only ever known England.
“The family first came to England from the highly impoverished southern part of Romania, close to the Danube.
” Simply said, there was no chance to help the family well back in Romania.
“He was the breadwinner; thus, he felt driven to support his family by returning and time repeatedly. Nothing turned around.
With his recent incarceration, his wife had fled to Romania with the children to live with a relative. He stole her surname to get a new passport under a false name.
According to Mr Stephens, “it’s cramped.” It’s tough; they subsist on handouts. The youngsters have to adjust and will do so. Though strange, the decision that must be taken is necessary.
He now did not need a comeback. He shows no want to return. These days, all he wants is to be deported.
Judge Jeremy Gold informed Ion Raducan: “You ignore entirely statutes prohibiting illegal access into the United Kingdom.
“Being arrested does not discourage you from trying time and time again to return to the United Kingdom; you are a serial offender.
“The circumstances of this case call for a deterrent punishment as they are so severe.
“The whole punishment would have been one of eight years’ imprisonment. I cut that to six years to represent your guilty plea in the plea and trial planning session.
“You will serve half of that in custody before release on licence, and you can expect to be immediately deported upon release.”
A woman claiming to be Raducan’s sister wept outside court.
Previously imprisoned for being part of a ring trafficking women for sex and controlling prostitution for profit in Manchester and the northwest of England, Ion Raducan was
Greater Manchester Police brought them to trial under Operation Elba; Raducan was sentenced to 27 months in November 2021 and served with a deportation order.
Although he was deported on Thursday, 27 January last year, occasionally successful, he tried to return to Britain via several airports from October last year.
Once back, he hired a car and carried a mobile phone without telling the police, therefore breaking his 10-year enslavement and trafficking prevention order.
Early Monday, September 4, police stopped him in a car in Marine Parade, Brighton.
Inspector Oliver Fisher from the Tactical Firearms Unit: “Our officers were out on patrol and checked the car Rudacan had hired under a false identity.
“These offences by Ion Raducan were exposed because of the proactive halt.
“It shows that our very skilled weapons officers routinely patrol to help colleagues throughout the force and do various tasks above and beyond armed response.
“We are resolved to disrupt criminals who prey on vulnerable people with trafficking and modern slavery to ensure the victims are properly safeguarded.”
Greater Manchester Police’s modern slavery and human trafficking head, Detective Inspector Tony Platten, said: “He has shown a blatant disregard once again to the orders imposed on him after serving a custodial sentence.”
“Another coordinated approach was conducted across several force areas and actions when intelligence was obtained indicating he had returned to UK territory.
“The most recent outcome was when we helped colleagues in Sussex locate, arrest and prosecute him further and gathered evidence to provide their required support.
“These directives concerning immigration and deportation aim to lower the possibility of more damage being done.
” Hopefully, this continuous approach reinforces the message to victims we will investigate all available lines of inquiry while those who commit serious modern slavery offences will be pursued and handled firmly to protect some of the most vulnerable in our communities.”
Assistant director of the Home Office Criminal and Financial Investigation Unit, Tony Hilton, said: “This is a very dishonest person who has repeatedly sought to cross our borders and exploit vulnerable people.
“He has been unrelentingly hunted and brought to justice thanks to the commitment of immigration officials and police.
“We will keep closely working with our policing partners to investigate, arrest and destroy people-trafficking operations like this one, so safeguarding our borders and saving lives.”
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