A kingpin who ran a string of brothels that raked in more than £1 million a year has been jailed.

David Archer, 53, was sentenced to 13 years behind bars at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Friday (May 19) for running four brothels and trafficking women into the UK.

Archer, of Northumberland Avenue, Wanstead, admitted prostitution and human trafficking charges, but was also found guilty of three counts of sexual assault in March after a four-week trial.

Police first uncovered Archer’s empire in January 2016, when one victim, a sex worker, contacted officers with concerns for the safety of a woman locked in a bedroom at his Wanstead home.

Officers attended the house and found a young woman trapped inside one of the rooms and evidence that the premises were being used as a brothel.

Mobile phones, cameras, and laptops were all seized following a search of the property.

Whilst officers were conducting the search, Archer arrived home and was arrested on suspicion of controlling prostitution for gain.

Detectives discovered Archer also owned a house and a hotel in Romford Road, Forest Gate, a hotel in Barking Road, Plaistow, and was also renting a property on in Fulham.

These properties were searched following Archer's arrest and evidence was found they were operating as brothels.

Archer advertised rooms at the addresses for sex workers to operate from and he often charged an inflated rate for room rental, or took a significant percentage of the income generated.

He also trafficked women into the United Kingdom to work as prostitutes.

In many cases, he took sexually explicit pictures of the women to be used on profiles on adult websites advertising their services.

Archer had complete control of many of the profiles, many of which were advertised through an adult website called “Adultwork”.

During the investigations, a number of victims came forward to report that Archer sexually assaulted them when he took photographs of them.

It was revealed that Archer had assets of nearly £16 million, with the brothels making around £1.6m a year.

Officers also found more than £142,000 in cash hidden at one of the premises.

DS John Kirby, of the Met's Sexual Offences Exploitation and Child Abuse Command, said: "Archer had no option other than to plead guilty to a number of offences.

"However, he thought that he could escape justice with regard to the assault. This was not the case.

"Archer exploited vulnerable women to build his lucrative empire in the sex industry over a number of years.

"The vulnerability of the women and his position of strength created an imbalance which he exploited again and again - financially, emotionally, and in some cases sexually."

Archer's accomplices, Zobia Taqi, 29, of High Road, Ilford and Emma Cox, 41, of New Timber Avenue, Worthing, had both admitted conspiracy to control prostitution for gain on February 10 this year.

Both were sentenced on May 19 to 12 months' imprisonment, suspended for two years, 150 hours of unpaid work and 20 days of rehabilitation.

Archer was also found not guilty of seven counts of rape and one count of sexual assault.