Exposed: Vice in the Valleys

May 18 2008 Wales On Sunday

THE SEX trade in Wales is bigger than ever, according to the tough-talking Welsh author whose new book claims to unveil the most shocking tales from deep within the industry.

Former Merthyr bouncer Julian Davies lifted the lid exclusively to Wales on Sunday on the women who supply sex for money, and the men willing to pay for it. Claire Rees reports...

HARDMAN Julian Davies has come face-to-face with the fiercest characters in the boxing ring and on the nightclub door – but he admits they are nowhere near as tough as prostitutes.

The 44-year-old, from the notorious Gurnos estate in Merthyr Tydfil, said interviewing sex workers for his latest book was one of the most terrifying things he has ever done, despite mixing with some of the meanest men in the underworld.

Hookers: Candid Confessions of Real Call Girls, has just gone onto the shelves and is expected to be even more controversial than the former doorman’s previous books, Streetfighters and Bouncers – which were criticised for glamorising violence.

And here, the dad-of-two tells Wales on Sunday why it will expose the police crackdown on prostitution as a sham.

Julian spent seven months interviewing call girls, escorts, street walkers and high-class hookers in their homes in a bid to find out the amazing truth in their own words.

The former Hardman UK contestant contacted prostitutes through the men who knew them – including London gangsters, a Welsh doctor and the punters in Valleys pubs and clubs.

“There are thousands of prostitutes in South Wales alone,” he said. “People you would never guess use them.”

Julian also told Wales on Sunday about the men hiding their desire for buying sex under respectable male bonding activities – like the business lunch.

“Professionals go out in four or fives, entertaining clients,” he said.

“After a boozy lunch, that’s when the numbers start coming out.”

And he revealed the Welsh men desperate to maintain their “normal” family lives.

“What I found strange was that everyone who used prostitutes said they loved their wives. They get pleasure from having a secret from someone – I think that’s what makes men do it.”

The author travelled across the UK to meet his subjects – but said he did not have to leave his hometown to find women who dash the idea the sex trade is dominated by young women aiming to score a fix.

“There are women in their 50s from Merthyr who go to Cardiff on a Friday night dolled-up to sell sex,” he said.

“People think of it as being something young women do, but these older women will make up to £600 then get the first train back to Merthyr in the morning.

“Or there’ll be Valleys mums who’ll spend most of the weekend in Cardiff or Swansea, combining sleeping with men for money with shopping and even coming back with things for the kids.

“It’s very common for foreign women to come to the Valleys, set up in a house and move on when they need to.

“It was easy to find them – most of their numbers were on the internet.”

And Julian said it was even easier to find men willing to admit using prostitutes.

“Asking around, men would tell me about women in Aberdare or Pontypridd who ‘do a bit’, and one of the first questions people ask me about the book is did I go with any of them. I find it alien; how someone can do it. I’ve been with my wife since I was 16 and have never looked at another woman.

“But if a man wanted to look for a prostitute it wouldn’t take long. If you can’t find one through word-of-mouth, log on the internet and in seconds you’ll find one in your town.

“Just putting in ‘Cardiff escorts’ you find thousands – and I’d say 80% of them are prostitutes.”

Julian said despite his background as a boxing trainer, who interviewed illegal fighters for his last book, he was genuinely shocked by the women who invited him into their lives.

“One woman had piles of cocaine on a mirror on her table as she chatted to me, one demanded money after I interviewed her, one had tins of beans on the floor with spoons in and the wallpaper was actually rolling off the walls,” he said.

He also revealed to us some of the stories he did not include.

“Some women told me some really terrible stuff, even worse than what’s in the book. Some said they had been victims of paedophiles and that’s how they had got into prostitution.

“The stories would have terrified every parent in Wales.”

Julian, who is now in talks to write a fictional screenplay, does not believe police operations have had any impact on the sex trade.

“The crackdown hasn’t worked at all,” he said.

“The number of prostitutes working hasn’t reduced – I’d say more are at it.

“It’s always going to be around certain people need it and while there’s money, it will go on.

“In the ’70s there was always a man involved – now heroin has replaced the pimps.

“I did feel sorry for them, but it’s difficult to feel sorry for someone on heroin. I certainly wouldn’t mess with one of them.”

Hookers: Candid Confessions of Real Call Girls is out now published by Milo Books, priced £7.99

Memoirs of a prostitute - page 2