A DEVIANT who ignored police warnings of a crackdown on soliciting prostitutes in Ipswich's red-light district is today red-faced after being caught with his pants down - literally.
A DEVIANT who ignored police warnings of a crackdown on soliciting prostitutes in Ipswich's red-light district is today red-faced after being caught with his pants down - literally.
The 26-year-old Ipswich man was caught by a plain clothes police officer as he prepared to engage in a sex act with a prostitute in Handford Road. His trousers were around his ankles at the time and he was on full view to the public.
The man is the latest to be arrested in a zero tolerance campaign by Suffolk police against the men who create a demand for street sex in Ipswich.
He was arrested at 11pm on Thursday on suspicion of outraging public decency and became the 19th man arrested since police scaled up their efforts to catch kerb crawlers in the act.
The campaign further gained pace following the launch of Ipswich's new prostitution strategy which aims to wipe out street prostitution in the town by helping prostitutes create new lives away from the destructive trade and by putting the fear of certain arrest in kerb crawlers and those who approach sex workers on foot.
It was developed in association with the police, Ipswich Borough Council, Suffolk County Council as well as health agencies, the Probation Service and drug experts following the killings of sex workers Annette Nicholls, 29, Paula Clennell, 24, Gemma Adams, 25, Tania Nicol, 19, and Anneli Alderton, 24.
The arrested 26-year-old was released on bail and is due to return on April 28 when he will be given a caution for soliciting a prostitute.
Earlier the same night, a 40-year-old Ipswich man became the 18th man arrested in the kerb crawling blitz when he was stopped by police while in Burlington Road at 8.45pm. He was bailed to return on April 24 when he will also be cautioned.
Men caught seeking sex from prostitutes are given a caution on their first offence. Subsequent offences see them taken before the courts where they face more serious penalties.
The Evening Star has pledged to name and shame all men who appear before courts in Ipswich charged with kerb crawling.
What are your views on the kerb crawling crackdown? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk.
19 arrests: The men at the centre of Ipswich's street sex shame.
The arrests so far suggest it is largely local men who are using sex workers in the red-light district - not so-called “sex tourists” as some have suggested.
The most recent arrests were of:
A 26-year-old from Ipswich
A 40-year-old from Ipswich
A 53-year-old from Stowmarket
A 36-year-old from Ipswich
A 31-year-old from Ipswich
A 56-year-old from Hollesley
A 34-year-old from Ipswich
A 34-year-old from Ipswich (not the same as above)
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