Teacher from Canterbury jailed for running brothel and selling wife for sex

FORMER PE teacher Tim Blake-Bowell, who led a secret double life as a male prostitute and brothel manager, has been jailed for nine months.

Blake-Bowell, 47, of Querns Road, Canterbury was convicted of controlling six prostitutes including his wife Emma, 37, for financial gain at Canterbury Crown Court today.

The Canterbury Hockey Club veterans' player broke down in tears in the dock before he received his sentence.

Mother-of-four Emma Blake-Bowell, who worked under the names Brandy and Gem, was given a nine-month sentence suspended for two years because judge Adele Williams felt she had been pressured into working for her husband.

The couple, who have split up, were charged with running a brothel from a rented ground floor flat in Henry Court off Gordon Road, Wincheap from 2006 until 2007.

Earlier in the case the court had heard how Blake-Bowell, who lost his job at King Ethelbert School in Birchington after his arrest in December 2007, had managed the financial side of the operation and had worked as a prostitute himself.

The couple, who have two young children together, advertised under the names Gem's and Pandora's massage in local press and online.

They offered "discreet personal services for men, women and couples of all types" charging £40 for a massage, £60 for sex and £100 for an hour.

The Blake-Bowells kept 40 per cent of five women's earnings which they said was used to pay for running costs of the flat.

Judge Adele Williams said: "You and your wife controlled these prostitutes. You placed advertisements in papers and rotas were organised.

"This was organised prostitution which is a criminal offence. I accept that there is no evidence of coercion or corruption and there were no illegal immigrants or underage girls, but you did this for money.

"Your overheads were approximately £2,000 a month and in my judgement you would not have continued with this enterprise unless you were making a profit."