Pimp Paul Doyle, 65, has been jailed for living off the earnings from prostitution in Birmingham in the 1990s
An image from the BBC’s Three Girls drama.(Image: BBC)
A woman pimped out and sexually exploited as a child in Birmingham in the 1990s had managed to rebuild her life by 2017.
She had battled her own class A drug addiction and was working to help others.
Her life was in a ‘good place’. And then she watched the BBC’s Three Girls.
READ MORE: ‘Pimp’ and children’s author jailed over prostitution of underage girls in Birmingham
The drama was based on the true stories of victims groomed and sexually abused in Rochdale in the 2000s.
“I realised I was not to blame for what happened to me,” said the Birmingham victim.
The programme resonated with her so much that she bravely decided to report to the police what had happened to her in the second city in the late 1990s, when she was just 14 and 15.
At the time she was living in care homes. While at a party one night she was introduced to a man known as ‘Raj’, who was much older than her.
She thought he was ‘kind and caring’ but he soon persuaded her she needed money and should work as a prostitute.
Raj had also groomed other girls and could be very violent. He is now dead.
As well as being worked as a prostitute at the side of the road, the teenager also worked for Paul Doyle.
Paul Doyle(Image: Nick Wilkinson/Birmingham Live)
He ran escorting and stripogram agencies from a taxi base in Digbeth, Birmingham.
Doyle liked to ‘test’ girls out first in predatory sexual initiations with himself in his office.
The victim noticed he had a distinctive scar on his chest, a key detail which later identified him as the perpetrator due to hernia surgery.
She recalled being taken by a driver to see a client and given an envelope with condoms inside.
She was paid money and then went back to Doyle. She would typically see two to four clients a night.
She did not tell them how old she was, but Doyle knew.
The now 65-year-old pimp, from Mickleton Avenue, Sheldon, was found guilty of living off prostitution in relation to her.
He was also convicted of the indecent assault (rape) of a second 14-year-old girl named Rebecca Leach, who has waived her anonymity.
Doyle was jailed for six-and-a-half years at Birmingham Crown Court on Tuesday, April 8.
Paul Doyle, aged 65, from Sheldon, has been jailed for living off prostitution
He received a slightly reduced sentence because he had been jailed for 11 years in 1998 for indecent assaults on a 15-year-old girl, a 19-year-old girl and raping an 18-year-old girl.
The victim of the latest case, now in her 40s, attended the sentencing hearing.
In her statement, read to the court by prosecutor Jenny Josephs KC, she said the majority of men she came into contact with as a child abused her sexually or physically.
She said ‘nowhere felt safe’, leading her to run away and into the clutches of Raj, who ‘abused me and put me on the game, making me sell myself for gain’.
She said: “I finally feel I can have closure for that part of my life safe in the knowledge I have stood before a jury and been believed.
“I’ve had a chance to tell my story and I have a small bit of justice.
“A little bit of good has come out of something bad.”
The victim described how life ‘crumbled’ after the launch of the investigation as reliving her abuse in interviews and revisiting locations to identify properties triggered flashbacks and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
She described her ongoing physical and mental health difficulties: “Despite the last eight years being so awful and despite the majority of my early life being so traumatic I’m now in a much better place and have children of my own.”
Anthony Bayliss
Doyle’s co-defendant Anthony Bayliss, 78, of Lichfield Road, Stafford, was sentenced to nine-and-a-half years having been found guilty of two charges of raping Ms Leach.
Both were prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) organised child sexual abuse unit following an investigation by West Midlands Police.
Specialist prosecutor Claire Brinton said: “The victims in this case were vulnerable children who had their innocence cruelly stolen by adults who exploited them for sex and money.
“Bayliss and Doyle targeted their victims because they were young.
“This enabled the defendants to exploit them for their own sexual gratification and financial gain.
“We would like to extend our thanks to the victims who showed extraordinary bravery in reporting what Bayliss and Doyle did to them.
“I hope they can find some comfort in knowing that it is because of their evidence, that we have been able to bring these offenders to justice.
“The CPS remains dedicated to pursuing justice for victims of child sexual abuse and will continue to work tirelessly to hold violent sex offenders accountable – no matter how much time has passed since they committed their crimes.”
Supt Wes Martin, from West Midlands Police, said: “These were deplorable and inexcusable crimes where vulnerable young girls were trafficked into the West Midlands and sexually exploited.
“Doyle offered the girls for sex while Bayliss paid for sex with an underage girl.
“I want to thank the women for reporting their abuse many years after the offending and recognise the bravery they have shown.
“We will always take reports of sexual attacks extremely seriously and, no matter how many years have passed, we will thoroughly investigate such offences.
“We know it can be difficult to talk about such abuse and we have specialist staff who are there to listen and support you.
“We will always seek to ensure perpetrators are brought to justice for their vile actions.”