Couple who ran village spa as sex dungeon... for guests in nothing but f lip-f lops
Money made from an illegal sex club in a Home Counties village was the proceeds of crime, a judge declared yesterday.
The club, which featured a fully-equipped sex dungeon where punters had to be naked apart from flip-flops was set up at a nudist spa.
yesterday the kinky couple who ran it were ordered to hand over more than £45,000 as a result of continuing to operate it despite orders to stop.
Graham Tattershall, 65, and Ann Trewren, 54, directors of the Kestrel Hydro Spa in Stanwell Moor, Surrey, stood in the dock at Guildford Crown Court after losing numerous appeals against a council enforcement order.
The private nudist colony was run for more than ten years and featured a swimming pool, a sauna and the sex dungeon.
In the dungeon were shackles, cages and harnesses for guests to use. Membership soared before it was ordered to close in 2013. Couples paid £40 to attend the spa, while single women were charged £15 and single men £50.
The sex club also received glowing reviews online, receiving an average of 4.4 stars from regulars on Google.
one guest wrote: ‘What an interesting place this is...not sure that I can say too much about it, might reveal too much, anyway go and have a look for yourself... make sure you have your eyes wide open.’
yesterday, Tattershall and Trewen were ordered to pay back £22,500 each and were also told they will be sentenced for their crimes of ignoring the council enforcement orders at a future date. The spa ran into hot water when Spelthorne Borough Council received complaints from neighbours.
The council maintained that due to its green belt location and the lack of an adult members’ club licence, all structures should be torn down.
Tattershall embarked on a three-year legal battle and the case went all the way to the Court of Appeal in London, but in 2016 he was told he had to dismantle his business.
However the pair continued to run the club despite being given a year to cease operations and were ordered to pay back the money they had made in this time at a hearing at Guildford Crown Court. The order was made by Mr Recorder Stephen Bellamy-Chambers QC under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
The ill-gotten gains of the sex dungeon were made between July 2017 and January of this year, with the club finally closing its doors in February.
The pair appeared sombre in court, with Tattershall dressed in a grey suit with a blue shirt and Trewen in a dark blue jumper with a blue collared shirt underneath.
The court heard that Tattershall was struggling financially and would need at least six weeks to pay back the money, with Trewen only getting 14 days to pay back her share. The pair were also ordered to pay court costs, with Trewen told to pay back £4,453 and Tattershall landed with a £3,291 bill for the proceedings.
A spokesman for Spelthorne Borough Council said: ‘Having lost a series of court appeals, Kestrel Hydro, a “private members’ club” which had been operating in Stanwell Moor, has been closed down.
‘Kestrel had been refused planning permission in July 2013 as the structures and use were ruled inappropriate for a residential area in the green belt, but its use continued. The council served an enforcement notice in August 2013. The club appealed a number of times but the Court of Appeal finally dismissed the last appeal in July 2016 and refused permission for there to be any further appeal. As the club had continued to operate after the compliance period had ended, the council obtained an injunction in December 2017.’
Local councillor Colin Barnard said: ‘I am pleased that the council’s persistence has paid off and this club finally closed down. The club’s unauthorised use and unlawful outbuildings were clearly inappropriate for a residential area in the green belt and residents were rightly concerned.’
‘Shackles, cages and harnesses’