Sex dungeon couple ordered to pay £45,000
Owners who ran club in green belt location kept operating despite being given a year to close venue
A COUPLE who owned a sex dungeon have been ordered to pay £45,000 after the court heard they ran the den despite being told to shut it down.
The duo, who established a private members’ sex club where customers had to always be naked apart from flipflops, were ordered to hand over the money after it was ruled the funds were proceeds of a crime.
Graham Tattershall and Ann Trewen, directors of the Kestrel Hydro Naturist Spa, attended Guildford Crown Court yesterday after losing numerous appeals against a council enforcement order which said the sex dungeon was “inappropriate” for a residential area.
The nudist group at Stanwell Moor, Surrey, was run for more than 10 years and featured a swimming pool, a sauna, a sex dungeon and a rule prohibiting those present from wearing any clothing, with the exception of flip-flops.
The couple 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 court heard that Tattershall was struggling financially and would need at least six weeks to pay back the money, with Trewen getting 14 days to pay back her share.
The pair were also ordered to pay court costs, with Trewen told to pay £4,453 and Tattershall landed with a £3,291.87 bill for the proceedings. The spa first ran into difficulties after Spelthorne borough council received complaints from nearby residents raising concerns over the property, which they said was operating as a sex club and not a domestic property.
The council ruled that due to the green belt location of the club and the lack of a licence to be used as an adult club, all structures erected should be removed and trading should stop.
Disputing the decision, Tattershall embarked on a three-year legal battle and the case was heard all the way up to the Court of Appeal, but in 2016 he was told he had to dismantle the buildings and cease trading.
However, the pair continued to run the club despite being given a year to halt operations, and were ordered to pay back the money they had made in this time.
The proceeds from illegal trading were made between July 2017 and January of this year, with the club finally closing its doors in February.
A spokesman for the council said that after losing a series appeals Kestrel Hydro had been closed down. Kestrel Hydro was originally refused planning permission in July 2013 after the structures and use were ruled “inappropriate” for a residential area in the green belt, but its use continued.
The council obtained an injunction against the owners in December 2017, giving them until Jan 31 2018 to comply.
The spokesman added: “Kestrel Hydro is no longer being advertised online as a private members’ club and the outbuildings have been removed, although action to ensure full compliance with the injunction is ongoing.”