A human rights group has slammed Croydon Crown Court for meting out “meagre” sentences to sex traffickers Michael Dalton and Nikki Chen.

The former police snitch and his ex-girlfriend were both given reduced sentences after pleading guilty to running the Surbiton sex ring for several years, despite human trafficking carrying a maximum penalty of 14 years.

A spokesman for Croydon Community Against Trafficking (CCAT) described the pair’s respective three year and two-and-a-half year sentences as a “prime example of inappropriate sentencing for the crime of human trafficking”.

He added: “Prosecution is a vital tool in the fight against modern-day slavery and such meagre sentences will do little to deter traffickers from continuing to exploit and trade human lives for their own profit.

“The fact that these people will serve less time in jail than they spent making money from the exploitation of women is an insult to the dignity and rights of the victims they exploited.”

Another three women also confessed to working at the brothels earlier this year, and were sentenced up to three months each before being deported.

Detective Chief Superintendent Richard Martin, head of the Met Police’s Human Exploitation unit, said: “Chen and Dalton took the vast majority of the cash they made through their illegal activities to fund their lavish lifestyles, living in expensive houses and driving luxury sports cars.”

“The young women they controlled were exploited and obliged to have sex with in excess of 12 strangers a day, in order to pay off the debts they had accrued in being trafficked to the UK on false passports and visas.”