The Age
Kate Hagan
April 24, 2009

A BARRISTER acting for a man accused of bringing five Thai women to Melbourne as sex slaves has compared their plight to an AFL footballer being drafted to another club.

Len Hartnett told a Supreme Court jury yesterday it would need to consider whether the women had been treated as “commodities”, as prosecutors claimed.

“The coach walks into the training room … at the Brisbane ground, the Gabba, and says to a 19-year-old, who was drafted two years ago from Melbourne: ‘Son, next year you won’t be here, you’ll be playing for Fremantle.’ Well, what is he? A commodity? That’s one way of expressing it,” he said. read more..

Herald Sun
Shelley Hadfield
April 23, 2009

A THAI woman who claims to have been caught up in a sex slave scheme sent $32,000 to Thailand while under a contract in Melbourne, a court has heard.

Prosecutor Daniel Gurvich told the Supreme Court earlier this week that five women came to Australia under contracts to service 650 to 750 men to repay a debt for their passage to Melbourne and the opportunity to earn money. read more..