Adult star jailed for burning Aston Villa fan with iron in lodge assault
Caprice Brown, who called herself ‘Zara’ on dating app Badoo, was jailed for nine years after admitting two charges of robbery as well as fraud and assaulting an emergency worker
A mum working as an adult star has been locked up for restraining men in hotels before assaulting and robbing them. Caprice Brown enticed her first target, an Aston Villa supporter, to Jurys Inn on Broad Street in Birmingham city centre.
Brown, who was 19 at the time, along with an unidentified accomplice, bound him using masking tape and scorched him with a heated iron. The duo subsequently used his banking information to purchase a £1,000 iPhone from Argos.
Brown was then implicated in a second comparable attack at the Britannia Hotel Coventry, where a victim was secured with handcuffs and menaced with scissors, the Birmingham Live reported.
She targeted him alongside two other females, including Karissa Alfrez, then 20, who identified as a woman but has since transitioned to become a man named Damani Scott-Slue. Both received prison sentences at Birmingham Crown Court on Tuesday (December 15).
Brown, now 25 and of no fixed abode, was handed nine years after pleading guilty to two robbery charges plus fraud and assaulting an emergency worker. Scott-Slue, also 25, from The Leverrettes, Handsworth, was given six years following conviction for one robbery offence after trial.
Judge Simon Drew KC declared: “These were really nasty offences. Each took place during the Covid pandemic when everyone was feeling vulnerable, isolated and you took advantage of two men whose isolation led them to seek solace on the internet and in a hotel room.”
The judge noted both victims had endured humiliation whilst recounting the ordeals, stating: “I am sure you appreciate for them this is an incident that will never go away.” Brown encountered the first victim in July 2020 on the dating app Badoo, where she went by the name “Zara”.
They agreed to meet at Jurys Inn in Birmingham city centre, which has since rebranded. Brown arrived with another woman, claiming it was for her personal safety.
The victim believed he was there for a date and only had £40 on him. Prosecutor Mark Karpinski stated: “He had a shower.
“One of the two workers said ‘let’s have some fun’. She got some brown masking tape out and taped his wrists.
“One of the women asked him for the password for his phone because he had not paid enough. He told them he couldn’t remember it.”
When the victim refused to disclose his pin number, one of the women assaulted him with an iron, pressing it into his arm, shoulder, face and back, while the other woman punched him. Eventually, a man in the room next door knocked on the door to complain about the noise.
The victim called for help, causing Brown and the other woman to scarper. They made off with his wallet, which contained his bank card, Aston Villa season ticket and store cards.
The victim later discovered an online transaction had been made from his account for a £999 iPhone from Argos. Police were able to use the IP address of the handset to track down Brown according to Carl Jackson, for the Birmingham Live.
The second robbery occurred in September 2020. The victim was lured through the Tinder dating app by a woman calling herself “Maia” and instructed to meet at the Britannia Hotel in Coventry.
He engaged in brief conversation with her in the hotel room before popping out to purchase alcohol. The victim returned around 9.30pm and carried on chatting to Maia.
Mr Karpinski explained: “Subsequent to this two other ladies, being the first and second defendant, burst out of the bathroom. The victim was placed in masking tape and handcuffs, initially consensually.
“He was then the victim of a robbery where his mobile phone was accessed and various items were taken from him. He was threatened with a pair of scissors if he didn’t give them the details about his phone and bank.
“The defendants said to him ‘we will hurt you if you don’t’.” The women fled with his £800 Samsung phone and bank card.
The victim managed to break free and find assistance, though he remained restrained and gagged. He subsequently discovered £1,000 had been withdrawn from his bank account.
In January this year, police searched for Brown, who was using the alias Hazel Hardy, due to welfare concerns. Officers traced her to a house in multiple occupation in Tamworth, where she fought back and repeatedly struck a female constable with her feet.
Brown, who has one child, possessed no prior criminal record. Morgan Pirone, representing her, confirmed she suffered from “long-standing vulnerabilities and complex trauma”.
He revealed her personal situation was so dire that she requested to remain in custody immediately after entering her guilty plea. Scott-Slue, a father, attended the court hearing via video link from HMP Birmingham.
His criminal record includes previous convictions for theft. Defence barrister Haroon Khattak explained that Scott-Slue was immature, under the influence of drugs and being manipulated at the time of the offences.
Khattak revealed that Scott-Slue had found prison life challenging but had managed to secure jobs delivering packages, braiding inmates’ hair and working in the canteen. Mr Khattak stated: “He had issues with thinking and behaviour.
“Poor decision-making, impulsivity and consequential thinking. This defendant is extremely unlikely to repeat this behaviour.”
Despite receiving substantial prison sentences, both offenders were informed they would only serve 40 per cent of their terms behind bars.
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.
