A Dublin road engineer who rented an apartment for use as a brothel to help pay off property loans will be sentenced later this year.
Thomas Lyons (56), told gardaí he had initially rented the apartment so he could live there with his Brazilian girlfriend, who was involved in the escort industry but whom he had met socially.
When they split up, he advertised the property for €700 a week on an Irish escort website to help pay mortgages on three properties and to support his wife and children.
Garda Sheila White said Lyons also said he had been financially assisting his then girlfriend so she could leave the escort industry. He said he got the idea to advertise on the website because of her involvement in the trade.
Lyons, a father of two of The Warren, Malahide Road, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to permitting an apartment at Burnell Court, Northern Cross, Malahide Road, to be used as a brothel between February 22nd and June 22nd, 2011. He has no previous convictions.
Garda White told Gerardine Small, prosecuting, that she and colleagues set up surveillance after residents complained to the property manager about males coming and going from the apartment.
Gardaí got a search warrant and, on June 22nd, they saw an African woman and eastern European woman enter the premises. Lyons arrived later that day and answered the door to the search team.
Full admissions
He made full admissions during interview and said he had been an engineer for 18 years but was now on a three-day working week. He said he received about €3,000 a month take home pay and some rental income on other properties, including one in Lanzarote.
Garda White agreed with Colm Ó Briain, defending, that his client also had €2,240 in loan repayments per month.
She further agreed that Lyons had co-operated fully and had not trafficked the women or acted as a pimp.
She agreed that one of the women told gardaí that Lyons had been at the apartment because of a problem with the electricity.
Mr Ó Briain submitted to Judge Mary Ellen Ring that Lyons continues to support his family despite being separated from his wife, who has no work history. He said his client has now lost his pensionable job.
The judge commented that there seemed to be a contradiction between Lyons trying to help his girlfriend out of prostitution and facilitating other women in the trade.
“It’s not a business that one sees as a career opportunity,” Judge Ring said.
The judge accepted that Lyons comes from a respectable background but noted this was not a victimless crime. She said he had put his family’s future at risk because they are dependent on him.
She remanded Lyons in custody until sentencing in October.