Pimp 'enslaved' woman before his girlfriend kidnapped her in Strangeways when she tried to break free

A pimp who exploited a vulnerable woman who was ‘enslaved’ into prostitution has been jailed for a decade.

Jean Marinel Mihai, 29, trafficked the woman into the country from her native Romania so he could profit from her. He pocketed at least £100,000 while controlling the woman over a 15 month period while she was forced to be a sex worker on the streets of Manchester, meeting up to ten men a day.

“She didn’t know what she was doing, where she was going, save and except that she was being moved to the UK to make money for Mr Mihai as a prostitute,” Judge Rachel Smith said at Manchester Crown Court.

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The judge said of Mihai: “He took all of her money, he assaulted her on a number of occasions. She was frightened of him because there were occasions of physical violence. Mr Mihai would ring her every day to check up on whether she was working and how much money she was earning.”

When the woman later received support from a charity, Mihai’s former girlfriend, Florentina Doina Urmuz, who previously controlled her when she was a sex worker in Romania, was then involved in kidnapping her so she could continue to be exploited.

“You knew what she looked like, you would be able to speak to her on the street,” the judge said of Urmuz’s role in the kidnapping. “The kidnapping was pre-planned. You and the two men in the car had travelled from the Midlands. She was frightened of you.

“She was vulnerable, you knew that. You knew she was being kidnapped to be handed over from one exploitative man to another, to be enslaved within prostitution.”

Urmuz, 27, treated the woman as a ‘business asset’, the court heard. She wept as she was sentenced to six years in prison. The abuse had ‘dreadful consequences’ for the victim, including ‘daily sexual exploitation’ and ‘living in fear of physical and psychological abuse’.

Mihai’s lawyer claimed that the defendant was remorseful. But the judge said: “I regret to say that I find this difficult to accept, given the history since the guilty pleas and the view I formed of Mr Mihai’s evidence.”

The judge said Mihai was 'not an honest or reliable witness' after he claimed he had earned less money from the woman than the judge ultimately ruled. “I am not satisfied he is in any meaningful sense remorseful for his offences,” Judge Smith said of Mihai.

Couple exploited vulnerable woman

Prosecutors told how the victim was born in Romania, and left her ‘abusive family home’ as a teenager. She then became a sex worker ‘in order to survive’, prosecutor Zoe Dawson said. In the early 2000s she was approached by Urmuz’s mother, who offered her a place to stay. She agreed and ended up living with the family for more than a decade.

She continued to work as a sex worker but was forced to hand over all of her money, with Urmuz later taking over control of the woman. The victim later met Mihai, who was then Urmuz’s boyfriend.

At one stage in the late 2010s, Mihai took over control of the woman from Urmuz. She was then trafficked to the UK by him, travelling on a flight alongside him.

At one point later the woman met an outreach worker who assists sex workers. A charity found the woman a place at a guest house in the city.

In the meantime, Urmuz had been ‘looking for’ the victim. The victim was in the Strangeways area of Manchester in 2020 when a black SUV pulled up beside her.

Mum-of-three Urmuz got out of the car and ‘physically assaulted’ her, causing the woman to fall to the floor. She was ‘forced’ into the car and was kidnapped. Two men were in the front passenger and driver seat.

She was driven to a house in Derbyshire, which was described as ‘another place in order for her to continue to be exploited’, prosecutors said. Ms Dawson said that the victim was treated as ‘little more than a money making asset’.

Later, Urmuz discovered that her victim had been reported missing to police. A plan was arranged to travel back to Manchester and ‘spin the police a yarn’, to claim that the pair were actually ‘friends’ and that she had left with Urmuz ‘voluntarily’, the court heard.

Urmuz took the woman to a police station but Urmuz was arrested there. Mihai was arrested in 2021 after arriving on a flight into the UK.

The court heard a statement read on behalf of a support worker who has since assisted the victim. The worker said of her: “When I first began to work with her, she was like an empty shell. She seemed unable to function without someone to direct her.”

The worker said the woman was underweight and had a number of problems. “She was treated worse than a dog,” they said. She said that the woman is now living independently.

Mihai, formerly of High Street, Slough, pleaded guilty to requiring a person to perform forced or compulsory labour and arranging or facilitating the travel of another person with a view to exploitation. Urmuz, formerly of Wilbraham Road, Sheffield, pleaded guilty to kidnapping. Mihai was sentenced to ten years in prison, while Urmuz was sentenced to six years.