A LANCASTER man jailed for running a brothel has been released from prison claiming that new evidence will prove his innocence and seriously embarrass the police. Brian Grove of Ryelands Road is to seek a judicial review in a bid to clear his name and to restore the reputations of the women who worked for him, branded as prostitutes in court. And the 35-year-old law graduate, whose business Crazy Girls regularly supplied strippagrams for police parties, is confident a fresh look at the evidence will reveal how the police booked saucy acts even after arresting Mr Grove for vice charges.

"My main claim is that the girls who worked for me were not prostitutes, they never were prostitutes and I'm fighting to clear their names as much as my own," said Mr Grove, who maintains he ran a legitimate strippagram and glamour business.

"The magistrate dismissed whole swathes of my evidence. One of the things he said was that the 'strippagram' service was just a cover for running a brothel but I've had hundreds of strippagram bookings they could have checked. I used to do one or two a month just for the police. They asked for a mud-wrestling and saucy strip show even after they had brought charges," he claimed.

Mr Grove says he is confident of getting a judicial review which will quash the conviction he maintains the police pursued out of embarrassment. He is trying to get his studio equipment returned from the police after they seized videos and a computer which contained all his files.

"They even took my collection of Star Trek videos," he protested. "Under the Criminal Justice Act I should have been given a list of what the police seized but despite requests in writing from myself and my solicitors I've still had nothing."

Talking about his spell inside, he added: "I'm glad to be out of prison, the conditions inside are very bad, but there is something positive to come out of all this. My wife never liked the line of business I was in but after seeing so much hypocrisy and the way I've been treated she's now behind me 100 per cent. A judicial review under the full glare of the media will reveal a lot. I know my law and have nothing to hide."

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