A brothel called the Aquarius in the upscale West End neighborhood yesterday became Scotland's first business to be shut down using anti-social behavior laws. The brothel will be closed for three months.
The Scotsman recently reported that Sheriff Susan Raeburn “ordered steel doors to be clamped over the sauna's entrance and banned it from operating for three months.”
In March, the brothel’s owner, George Colahan, was jailed for nine months in the same court after being found guilty by another sheriff of living off “immoral earnings.” In his defense, Colahan claimed the sauna was legitimate and that girls there sold sex without his knowledge. However, The Scotsman reported that he is now facing a “proceeds-of-crime action which could cost him his £160,000 home and Porsche sports car.”
Following the original conviction, Glasgow City Council suspended Aquarius's entertainment license but it continued to open.
Reacting from complaints from local residents, police had placed the premises under surveillance in July and it was subsequently raided. According to The Scotsman, the court heard that “female employees admitted to officers who searched the premises that they were selling sex, while a number of men caught at the establishment confessed to police that they had been seeking sexual services.”
Glasgow City Council told the publication that it will be asking for an extension to the order at the end of the three-month period.
