Prostitutes on the right trying to entice potential clients outside a bar in Hong Kong's Wan Chai district. Photo by "Amaury dR". These are the words used by a prostitute in an exclusive interview with VICE to describe regular client and former Merrill Lynch banker Rurik Jutting, who was arrested on the November 1 for the murder of two women in his Hong Kong flat and ruled mentally fit to stand trial last week.
The petite year-old is articulate and intelligent, with a girlfriend who also works as a prostitute. Born in Hong Kong, Mandy began sex work four years ago while studying at a university in northwest England, leaving "tart cards" in telephone booths across town. She claims her relationship with Jutting began about a month before heโas she puts itโ"went off the rails," after he saw her profile on Craigslist and texted her directly.
Their first meeting was in a room on the 15th floor of a hotel less than five minutes away from his flat. They met 12 times, never at his place. Following his arrest, local media outlets reported that police had recovered a small amount of cocaine from his apartment.
Mandy corroborates this. During their very first text conversationโbefore they'd even met in personโJutting mentioned drugs as an incentive for her to pay him a visit: "If you like to get high Have a lot of coke For expat bankers like Juttingโthose with cash to burn and a pair of restless nostrilsโgetting hold of drugs is as easy as walking down any street in Central or Wan Chai.
While locals prefer ketamine and meth, cocaine is the drug of choice for most young expats in the city. These factors have united to create a culture in which visiting prostitutes and taking lots and lots of cocaine quickly becomes normalized for young British expats arriving in Hong Kong. Xander is a blond former public schoolboy originally from Eastbourne, who now works in the financial industry. He moved to Hong Kong last year and quickly gained a penchant for substances.
