News image
Page last updated at 14:02 GMT, Wednesday, 21 May 2008 15:02 UK

Ex-policeman in sex slave probe

Ian Shuttleworth
Former policeman Ian Shuttleworth is led away by Thai police

A former British policeman has been arrested in Thailand over claims he sold women into slavery.

Ian Shuttleworth is accused of luring Thai women to London under false promises of a job in a restaurant.

Thai police believe the women were then sold to brothel owners who forced them into sex slavery.

Mr Shuttleworth, 45, who runs a security services agency in Bangkok, protested his innocence at a media conference in Bangkok on Wednesday.

Police Major General Panya Maman said: "We arrested him because a victim, whom the suspect sent abroad but now is in Thailand, insisted that the suspect sent her for prostitution."

No charges

Mr Shuttleworth, who was born in St Helens, Merseyside, said: "An allegation has been made and the police have to do their job.

"They must arrest me in the circumstances because of the allegation that has been made.

I know that my dad has nothing to worry about
James Shuttleworth

"At the moment, I don't really know exactly what the situation is."

No charges have yet been brought by Thai police.

Mr Shuttleworth's son James, 27, a project manager from Leeds, who was with him when he was arrested, told BBC London he was shocked at the allegations.

But he added: "I know that my dad has nothing to worry about."

He said his father was semi-retired and had been living in Bangkok for around five years.




SEE ALSO

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites


FEATURES, VIEWS, ANALYSIS
Has China's housing bubble burst?
How the world's oldest clove tree defied an empire
Why Royal Ballet principal Sergei Polunin quit

PRODUCTS & SERVICES

AmericasAfricaEuropeMiddle EastSouth AsiaAsia Pacific