 LIVERPOOL'S community judge has promised to clear prostitution from the streets as he launched a crackdown on kerb crawling. Judge David Fletcher banned three men from driving and warned four others they could lose their licences. All seven defendents were called to the North Liverpool community justice centre after being picked up in Everton by police working on Operation Badminton. The men all admitted their guilt, and Judge Fletcher said their sentences should send a message to others using the area's red light zone. In sentencing father-of-six David Wroe, of Atherton Street, St Helens, he said: "Netherfield Road is plagued by prostitutes and kerb crawlers. "I accept that you were under stress and that you immediately admitted your guilt at the earliest opportunity. "But I want to send a clear message that prostitution will be removed from the streets." Wroe was banned from driving for 28 days, fined £200 and ordered to pay £60 costs. The court heard that the 43-year-old technical manager with Princess Foods was arrested after picking up a prostitute in Netherfield Road on January 18. He confessed to police. Phil Lieb, mitigating, said Wroe had been experiencing difficulties in his marriage, and he and his wife had split up since up the incident. Andrew Bignall, 42, of Derby Drive, Rainford, was banned from driving for 28 days, fined £300 and ordered to pay £60 costs after admitting picking up a prostitute on January 29. The clinical nurse specialist for Aintree hospitals appeared in court with his wife as support. The court heard that the incident was brought about by domestic pressures, including his father's death. Judge Fetcher said: "People with young daughters in Everton often have to suffer the ignomy of being mistaken for prostitutes. The cause of this problem is people like you." | 
News RSS Feed