Sex worker tied up and robbed men after using Tinder and Badoo to lure them to West Midlands hotels

One victim was branded with an iron to get him to reveal his pin number while another was threatened with a pair of scissors after being targeted by Caprice Brown, 24, and Karissa Alfrez, 25.

A court heard sex worker Brown enticed her first victim to the Jurys Inn in Birmingham by posing as a woman named Zara on the dating app Badoo.

Brown, then aged 19, and an unknown woman tied him up with masking tape and burnt him with a hot iron before using his bank details to buy a £1,000 iPhone from Argos.

Brown and Alfrez then robbed a second man at the Britannia Hotel in Coventry after restraining him in handcuffs and threatening him with scissors.

Brown, no fixed address, previously admitted two charges of robbery, fraud and assaulting an emergency worker and was jailed for nine years at Birmingham Crown Court last week. 

Alfrez, of Handsworth, Birmingham, was found guilty of robbery following a trial and was caged for six years.

Sentencing, Judge Simon Drew KC said: "These were really nasty offences." 

Referring to the first attack he said: "That attack took place in Birmingham, the most serious of the two. 

"It involved a man being tied up and attacked with an iron. He was badly burned. It was multiple times. 

"He suffered serious physical harm with injuries to his shoulder, back and side. He was lured to a hotel room so he was a vulnerable victim. 

"It was obviously planned and went on for a considerable amount of time."

He said as a result the man had to give up his job and move elsewhere and the second victim had suffered "extreme degradation." 

The court heard the first attack happened after Brown arranged to meet the victim and he booked the hotel room on July 25, 2020.

Mark Kalpinski, prosecuting, said Brown and another woman arrived and added: "He then had a shower and when he came out of the shower one of the ladies said 'We are going to have some fun'." 

The pair got out some masking tape and started to tape his wrists and ankles before asking for the password to his phone.

 Mr Kalpinski added: "He told them he could not remember it. The man was then told that if he did not reveal it he would get the iron."

One of the women then pressed a hot iron against the victim's upper right arm. 

Mr Kalpinski added: "He immediately jumped with he shock and started to remove the tape. 

"It was the same female who ran at him and punched him around his face. The iron was also pressed against his shoulder and back. 

"At this point there was a bang at the door. It was from a guest in the next door room complaining about the noise coming from the room." 

The victim told him to call the police and the two women then fled and after they had gone he realised his wallet had been taken along with other items including an Aston Villa season ticket. He also discovered his bank card had been used to buy a phone worth almost £1,000. 

The police were able to link it to Brown's IP address who when arrested said she was a sex worker. When her address was searched officers found a number of items stolen from the victim. 

Mr Kalpinski said Brown and Alfrez targeted a second victim in September 2020 who met a woman, calling herself Maia, on Tinder.

He arrived at the hotel first and after Maia, who has never been identified, turned up he went out to buy some alcohol. After he returned Brown and Alfrez burst out of the bathroom.  

He was also tied with masking tape and restrained with handcuffs. Mr Kalpinski  said: "He was the victim of a robbery. His mobile phone was accessed and various items were taken from him. 

"He was threatened with a pair of scissors if he did not give them details about his phone. They left and he managed to escape the room, bound and gagged with masking tape and got help."