Brothel owner jailed after tax return catches her out

6:08pm Wednesday 11th March 2009

By Lucy Buckland

A former prostitute who claimed she ran a Staines brothel to escape from the sex industry has been jailed for more than a year.

Jennifer Schott, 35, admitted running the London Road den after being caught out by cops when filing a 2007 tax return claiming she earned £100,000.

Schott, of Haggard Road, Twickenham, was sentenced to 15 months in prison at Kingston Crown Court on Wednesday.

Alewis Durran, prosecuting, told the court, officers started staking out the brothel after being tipped off by the Inland Revenue and spotted men arriving and leaving.

The court heard how when police raided the flat on July 7 they found a man and a woman in bed and £130 stuffed inside a cushion.

It was only when officers searched Schott’s Twickenham home they spotted leaflets with directions to the brothel, a staff handbook, a pamphlet describing services provided by the girls with prices and pictures of girls on Schott’s books.

Schott, who when she was first arrested told officers, “You have got me bang to rights”, sobbed throughout the first hearing on Tuesday as it emerged she had been stopped twice by police in 1995 for prostitution and had only acquired the tenancy to the London Road flat in 2004 as a means to escape being on the streets.

Andrew Thomson, defending, told the court Schott’s age and health reasons meant she stopped prostituting herself and claimed the brothel was a step towards going straight.

He said: “She was breaking the chains of her own prostitution. She thought it was constructive for others to follow her in the industry. We are not talking about a large-scale operation, it was a relatively small house.

“Jennifer Schott’s life has been a difficult one. She has been a victim of domestic violence and has found it difficult to take control of her own destiny.”

Mr Thomson told the court his client, who has three A-levels, had naively filled in the tax return as she was told by workers in the sex industry if her form was filled out correctly the Inland Revenue woould turn a blind eye to the nature of the business.

He added Schott denied raking in £100,000 claiming she took a small salary of £12,000.

Her lawyer also said police knew about the brothel but only acted after being pressed by the Inland Revenue.