DREAD LIGHT DISTRICT
Britain’s first ‘legal Red Light District’ where hook-ups cost ‘£5 & 2 cigarettes’ & prostitutes had 2pm sex in gardens
Tragedy struck when one sex worker was savagely murdered in 2016
TAKE a look at the dark side of Britain's first legal 'Red Light District' where sex workers offered hook-ups for “£5 and two cigarettes” .
Holbeck in Leeds was the country’s only "managed" area for sex workers until the scheme was shut down in 2021.
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The Holbeck Managed Approach scheme launched in 2014 and was the only place in the country where on-street sex work was legal.
The programme allowed sex workers to solicit for punters at certain times overnight without fear of being arrested by cops.
Long-term resident Pauline Lawn told The Sun three years ago that she encountered a sex worker and a man having intercourse in broad daylight.
Pointing to a patch of grass by her front gate, she said: “They were up against the fence. It was only 2pm.”
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Others say they feel the initiative destroyed their lives, with most having to constantly witness sex acts and finding used needles in the streets.
A neighbour of Pauline, who did not want to be named, recalled sex workers promoted “Friday specials” where a man could pay “£5 and two cigarettes” for oral sex.
“My husband has been offered business when he’s pulled up outside our house," she revealed.
"He had our two kids in the car.
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“My teenage daughter has been harassed by kerb crawlers.
"It’s a disgusting way to live and we have felt terrified to even go outside for years."
The legally allocated zone was established in the hope of quashing sex crimes and making it safer for women but some locals objected, claiming the sexual activity encroached onto their streets.
Locals even alleged that women and children were approached by men looking for sex, reported.
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In 2021, Leeds Council and West Yorkshire Police announced they would scrap the scheme despite a £50,000 independent review carried out last year indicating it should continue without any cutbacks.
At the time, the council said it would continue to support sex workers, adding it was “committed to managing on-street sex work in the most appropriate manner possible in order to reduce harm associated with on-street sex work".
Cllr Debra Coupar, deputy leader of Leeds City Council said: "I accept that it has been a bumpy road for some of the residents in the local community.
"What I would say is that we have had many benefits from the Managed Approach; the policing resources and the cleansing resources.
"I accept that over the years the benefits have not always been sustained, but over the last two or three years we have put dedicated resources which have made a huge difference to the people in Holbeck.
"But I'll leave it to the residents to judge whether it was a success or not."
TRAGEDY STRIKES
Polish sex worker Daria Pionko, 21, was kicked to death in the so-called "managed red light area" by trucker Lewis Pierre, 24 in 2016.
Daria had gone out to work on 22 December when she was murdered in the frenzied attack.
Pionko's blood was later found splattered across Pierre's steel-toed boots.
The murderer then swiped £80 from his victim, which he then used to buy cigarettes, food and cannabis.
Pionko, who had moved to the UK from Łódź in Poland 10 months earlier, was found lying face down and lifeless by her housemate Karolina Znajda, who was also a sex worker.
Pierre was caged for life with a minimum term of 22 years for Pionko's murder.
The brutal killing happened in a now-demolished abandoned warehouse in the industrial area on Springwell Road.
Handing down sentence, Mr Justice Goss told Pierre: "In your disregard for her as a person and driven by your own selfish desires, her life ended in the miserable circumstances I have just described."
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He also ordered Pierre to serve a concurrent eight-year sentence for robbery.
West Yorkshire Police described Pierre as a "dangerous individual" who had targeted Miss Pionko.
Det Supt Simon Atkinson said: "When she bravely resisted he launched a sickening and violent attack which left her fatally wounded.
"He then callously left her dying and walked away to spend the money he had stolen from her."
Following Daria's savage murder, a local group of anonymous volunteers called Holbeck Street Angels loitered around well-known sex work hotspots on most evenings and jotted down the licence plates of suspicious vehicles to pass onto the police.
ENDURING PROBLEM
Despite the shut down, locals say that sex workers still ply their trade on the streets of the town and nearby areas.
And it's left some residents too terrified to walk on the roads they call home.
Resident Tina Head, 50, who lives opposite Holbeck Park in a new-build property, said last year: "I have been followed home several times by men looking for sex.
“One time, not so long ago, I was followed by man in a car as I walked back from the Kasa convenience shop. I was terrified. I messaged my husband for help.”
The mum-of-six added: "I have adult girls and I’m worried when they go out. It is not safe.
“Since the official red light area was officially finished the problem of prostitution in the area has not gone away.
My husband has been offered business when he’s pulled up outside our house. He had our two kids in the car
Holbeck local
"In fact, it’s worse because now the police are not doing anything about it and the girls are working all day, from early in the morning and lunchtime, in broad daylight.
“The girls come to my door asking for cigs or they are hanging around the park where there are kids playing.”
Locals also claim that the issue have affected reputable businesses in the area.
And some believe that the problems are not only here to stay, but are set to get worse.
The owner of Christine’s Cafe and Deliveries, who didn’t wish to give her full name, said in 2023: "I don’t think the problem will ever go away.
“The police don’t do anything about it. You can clearly pick the working girls out and the police drive straight by them.
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“If I see the prostitutes I tell them ‘go away’ because they are not good for business."
She continued: “Who wants to be asked if they want sex, or ‘business’ when they are trying to enjoy their breakfast?"
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