Joy Imasogie pleads not guilty to trafficking charges

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Joy Imasogie pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to organising for a woman to enter Ireland illegally, compelling or coercing her to be a prostitute, and controlling or directing the activities of prostitution for gain. The alleged offences were dated between March 2006 and April 2008.

The proceedings were reported on 24 January 2017. The jury heard Joy Imasogie’s garda interviews on 23 January 2017. The three interviews had been conducted in late 2010.

During those interviews, Joy Imasogie denied trafficking the Nigerian woman or charging her €50,000 to bring her to Ireland. She said the woman sometimes came to her house to do her hair in exchange for food, but denied making her work as a prostitute.

Joy Imasogie claimed the woman had been having an affair with her husband for three years. Gardaí put it to her that she ran a prostitution business from several premises around Dublin. She denied this and said she had never visited those premises.

The trial was continuing before Judge Patricia Ryan and a jury.