Travel ban for man who 'tortured' women in Highland dungeon

Kevin Booth pictured outside his Lochdhu Lodge in 1995

A man who abused vulnerable women in an underground chamber at his Highland home has been given the first worldwide travel ban to be imposed by a Scottish court.

Kevin Booth, who is in his 60s, carried out "punishment beatings" using whips, canes and riding crops at his Lochdhu Lodge in Altnabreac, a small community in Caithness.

A court ruling said he had carried out "a systematic course of conduct of acts of human trafficking and exploitation" over many years.

The travel ban, which was approved after Police Scotland raised a civil action, prevents Booth from travelling outside the UK for the next five years.

The court heard that Booth filmed his attacks, including one 18-minute video of a terrified woman who tried to escape but was unable to do so.

The attack was described as being "nothing other than torture".

Booth, pictured in 2018, has been forced to surrender his passport

Police raised the action at Wick Sheriff Court to secure the travel ban under human trafficking and exploitation legislation.

Booth travelled regularly abroad and recruited economically vulnerable women in a number of countries, including South Africa, Dubai, Sri Lanka and Philippines, then paid for them to travel to the UK.

His assaults at Lochdhu Lodge were carried out in a chamber, accessed via a trapdoor and a 60m (197ft) concrete tunnel, which contained an empty coffin, life-size ancient Egyptian figures and a metal bench.

Some women were restrained by handcuffs and video showed them in extreme distress and pain, the judgement said.

Booth's violence also involved the use of belts and wooden brushes in what the sheriff described as punishment beatings.

Human trafficking and exploitation

Sheriff Neil Wilson said Booth had committed acts of human trafficking and exploitation over many years.

He described the evidence which had been presented in court as "utterly harrowing".

"The graphic video footage, combined with the context and background provided by supporting documentary evidence in various forms, was redolent of a level of cruelty and depravity which, whilst extreme, one can only hope is rare," he said.

In addition to the travel ban, he ordered that Booth must notify police in advance of hiring any woman as a housekeeper or to any other role at his home.

Booth had been charged with assaulting children in his care at a school in 1991 and left the UK in an attempt to evade justice, but later returned.

In 1994 he was convicted after a trial at Newcastle Crown Court of five charges of assaulting children and a further charge of failing to surrender to bail.

He was sentenced to three months' imprisonment, suspended for two years.

In 2002, Booth was convicted following a trial at Bradford Crown Court of indecently assaulting his Brazilian au pair and was sentenced to two years in jail.

A track leading to Booth's home in the Highlands

Police search Booth's home in the Highlands following allegations made about his conduct in March 2019.

He later appeared in court in private but a procurator fiscal discontinued the proceedings in March 2021.

Then in July 2023 a former employee made a complaint to Police Scotland about Booth's conduct to her when she was employed by him at the lodge between June and December 2022.

The court judgement says Booth pressured her into providing him with "sexual services".

It also tells how Booth was investigated for raping a woman in Ireland and subsequently sought to apply financial pressure on the complainer to withdraw her allegation.

During their investigations, police gathered evidence which was presented in the civil action.

Following the release of the judgement, Det Sgt Chris Hughes, of Police Scotland, said: "The safety of women and girls is an absolute priority for us and we sought the Trafficking and Exploitation Risk Order as an option open to us to prevent any further offending.

"Trafficking and exploitation is a blight on our communities and has no place in society and we will use all resources open to us to tackle it."

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said it had a duty to keep cases under review.

A spokesperson said: "Crown counsel concluded in 2021 that there should be no further criminal proceedings at that time.

"The Crown reserved the right to proceed in the future."

This court judgment reveals an appalling catalogue of cruelty and abuse by Kevin Booth, carried out over many years.

But it follows a civil court case - not a criminal trial. So Booth remains free.

So what's changed?

This court order imposes drastic limits on Booth's ability to traffic and exploit women in future.

He must tell police any time women visit his home.

He is banned from sponsoring visas for anyone travelling to this country.

So he can't bring women here from abroad.

And he has been forced to surrender his passport - so he can't travel overseas.

The focus is on controlling Booth in the years ahead - not on bringing him to justice for the suffering he has already caused.