Police step up bid to trace sex trafficker

ON the run . . . Florin Radu

POLICE hunting a convicted sex trafficker are appealing for the public’s help to find him.


Florin Radu (30) was convicted in his absence of trafficking, controlling prostitution for gain and assault at Manchester Crown Court last October. So far, all efforts to trace Radu, of no fixed abode, have been unsuccessful.

In August 2013, a 23-year-old woman came to England from Romania believing she would be starting work as a waitress. After arrival she was introduced to Radu in Dudley through a friend and over the following months was moved between addresses and hotels in the Midlands and North-West — including Oldham, Fallowfield, and Wigan — where she was forced to work as a prostitute, Radu taking all the money. She was beaten if she refused sexual activity.

In November 2013 in Oldham the victim managed to escape and flag down a passing police car.

Radu was arrested at Luton Airport in March 2014 and charged and remanded. Later he was bailed but failed to show up at his trial.

He is believed to have links across the West Midlands and Greater Manchester.

Detective Constable Simon Hurdley said: “Radu preyed on a vulnerable woman who believed she was coming to the UK for a better life. He made her life a misery, with one horrific ordeal after another.

Anyone who might have seen him should contact police.”

Call 0161-856 5017 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800-555 111.