Vice girl tells court how she used banker as meal ticket

Published on Thursday 28 May 2009 20:20

A BANK worker sat with his wife at the back of a court and listened to a prostitute tell how she had used him as a meal ticket but had not been involved in black-mailing him.

Catherine Purcell, 31, also known as Cindy, said the man, 55, had fallen in love with her and showered her with gifts. She led him on, and was "very appreciative" of his generosity.

"He spent a lot of money on me ... 2,000 I have added it up to," Ms Purcell told a jury yesterday. She said she had been charged along with a lover and his brother of extorting 10,000 from the man, but insisted she had not been involved.

Ms Purcell, of Musselburgh, East Lothian, was called as a prosecution witness at the trial of Stephen Dobson, 39, and John Dobson, 36.

They deny the extortion charge, and blame Ms Purcell for any threats made to the man to inform his wife of the relationship. They say they simply collected 1,100 in cash from him, at Ms Purcell's request.

The man has alleged at the High Court in Edinburgh that the brothers threatened to cut off his finger and rape his wife in front of their children if he did not pay them or contacted police.

He said he took out a loan and gave them 10,000 on 17 October. A few days later, he confided in a colleague at the Royal Bank of Scotland and police were alerted. He confessed to his wife, who was now considering divorce.

Ms Purcell said she had met the man in 2005 at Carol's Sauna, Easter Road, Edinburgh, where she worked under the name, Cindy. They began to meet away from the sauna and saw each other almost every day.

The man had bought her presents and she sometimes asked him for cash. She used heroin to "self-medicate" because of pain she suffered from Crohn's disease.

Last October, Ms Purcell said, she was in a casual relationship with Stephen Dobson and she had stopped working. Dobson knew the man as "an ex-client" and had met him. Ms Purcell had asked the man for a loan of 1,000, and he had said he would do his best. A few days later, the police detained her and charged her with extortion. "I was devastated. It is something I was not part of," she stated.

Ms Purcell agreed with Jim Keegan, solicitor-advocate for Stephen Dobson, that the man had told her he loved her, and that she had led him on.

"You had him wrapped round your little finger," suggested Mr Keegan. "I was very appreciative," replied Ms Purcell.

The trial continues.