A ROMANIAN pimp who lured a young girl to the UK before raping her and forcing her to work as a prostitute has been jailed for ten years in prison.

Cezar Murariu, 28, befriended the 18-year-old, dubbed Natalya, in northern Romania last summer and promised her a job in London, buying her a ticket to the UK.

However, when she arrived he took her to a flat in Hendon Way, Cricklewood, Murariu where he raped the girl, who was a virgin, and then took her to another flat and forced her to work as a prostitute.

She was made to sleep with up to five men a day, for £40 a time, and told by Murariu he would tell her family she was “uncontrollable” and voluntarily working as a prostitute unless she complied.

However, she managed to send a text message to her family telling them she was in trouble and they contacted the Met's human trafficking team.

They mounted a fast response operation and on 31 July last year surrounded a park Natalya was forced to exercise in to stay in shape for her work and took her to safety.

She had a number of missed calls on her phone from Murariu, who was picked up by officers not far from the park frantically searching for her.

Yesterday Murariu was founbd guilty of rape and two counts of controlling prostitution for gain at Southwark Court, and sentenced to ten years in prison.

Sentencing Judge HHJ Price told Murariu: "An aggravating feature of this case was the abuse of trust the victim. You are a highly controlling individual who represents a threat to this country."

DS Roddy Llewellyn from Operation Golf, said: "This vulnerable young European woman has been lured over to the UK, under the false promise of legitimate work and financial gain.

“She found herself being sold for sex. We work tirelessly both home and abroad to catch these criminals, to stop the exploitation of these young women"