A Dublin woman who made an estimated £500 daily running a brothel has been fined £1,500 and given an 18-month suspended sentence by Judge Yvonne Murphy.
Marie Bridgeman's brothel in Wexford Street, Dublin, had been operating for up to five years. The court heard most of the women working there told gardai they contacted her to become employees after seeing advertisements in In Dublin magazine.
Bridgeman (56), of Royal Oak, Santry, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to two charges of brothel-keeping on October 6th and November 12th, 1999.
Garda inquiries showed that Bridgeman owned and ran the operation and was responsible for the phones, electricity and other utilities. She did not disagree with the Garda estimation that she made from £500 to £600 daily from the operation. The court heard the Wexford Street brothel had been operating for almost five years, and Bridgeman had a second one at Beechmount Avenue, Ranelagh, which had been in operation for about seven months.
Bridgeman had one previous conviction for brothel-keeping for which she was fined £500 by Dublin District Court on March 6th, 1998. Judge Murphy said she took Bridgeman's guilty plea into consideration in deciding sentence. All the other counts on the indictment were taken into consideration.