please?â
âMartin Tredwell.â
The answer was difficult to make out. Tredwellâs horrific injuries prevented any facial animation.
âWould you be more comfortable seated, Mr Tredwell?â Anderson asked.
âNo, Iâll stand,â he replied, still defiant.
âVery well. I would like to start, if I may, with how you know the defendant, Waqar Ahmed?â
âI had a job at one of his takeaways. He used to come in at closing. About eleven.â
âWhy would he come in?â
âJust to check on things. Collect the takings.â
âWhere was that takeaway?â
âWilmslow Road in Rusholme, on the Curry Mile.â Tredwellâs voice became clearer as he got into his stride. âThe Kashmiri Palace.â
âAnd did you get to know Mr Ahmed?â
âYes. He started asking me to run errands for him.â
âWhat sort of errands?â
âCollecting rent from tenants and shopkeepers, or dropping something off. Stuff like that.â
âSo these people owed Ahmed money?â
âMaybe some did. Depends how you look at it.â
âHow did you look at it?â
âI assumed it was protection money.â
Hussain shifted uneasily in his seat.
âDid people ever refuse to pay?â
âYes.â
âWhat would happen?â
âI would tell Ahmed and he would send people round.â
âHow do you know?â
âStuff I would hear.â
âThatâs hearsay, Your Honour!â shouted Hussain.
The judge acknowledged the objection, but the damage was done.
âI see. How long did this go on for?â
âA few months, then he asked me to go places with him.â
âHow would he get hold of you?â
âHeâd come into the Palace or ring me on my mobile.â
âCould you please look at this, Mr Tredwell.â Anderson handed up his juniorâs schedule. âWe have copies for Your Honour and the jury.â
âThis is most helpful, Mr Anderson,â said the judge, studying the document.
âYour Honour,â interrupted Hussain, before Anderson was able to openly credit Connor for his efforts. âI would have been grateful for the courtesy of being shown this document before the witness was called.â
Anderson handed the document to his opponent.
âWell, now you have it, Mr Hussain,â said the judge. âNow where were we, Mr Anderson?â
Anderson resumed: âCan you just confirm that the two numbers at the top of the schedule are yours and Mr Ahmedâs?â
âYes.â
âWe can see that throughout last year he would ring you several times a week?â
âYes.â
âThank you. If the jury would like to put that document behind divider four in their bundles. Now, where would Ahmed take you, Mr Tredwell?â
He held a cup of water up to his mouth and sipped. âBars, houses; he had some girls.â
âWhat do you mean? A brothel?â
âHe had a couple. Sort of. Just houses where they lived. I would drive them out on jobs sometimes or deliver them to a house in Bradford.â
Anderson could see the jury were gripped by Tredwellâs account.
âJust to be absolutely clear, were people paying them for sexual services?â
âYes.â
âHow do you know?â
âThey gave me the money, after theyâd been out on a job.â
âWhat did you do with it?â
âGave it to the boss â Ahmed.â
âMr Tredwell, so the jury understand, you have pleaded guilty to an offence of trafficking women within the UK for sexual exploitation.â
âYes.â
âDo you know where the girls had come from?â
âAll over. Mainly Asia and Eastern Europe.â
âHow do you know?â
âThey told me. I got to know them. I treated them right.â
âWere you involved in bringing them into this country?â
âNo.â
âDo you