ALL SUZANNA Symington dreamed of was becoming a self-styled millionairess with a home in the sun complete with swimming pool and a book deal chronicling how she made her fortune.

To achieve her ambition, however, Suzanna Symington became a madam, running a high-class brothel from luxury penthouse flats in Southampton.

She was well on her way to achieving her goal when the operation she was running was raided by police after only a few months.

Southampton Crown Court heard how the 29-year-old began working as a prostitute when her gambler boyfriend left her with crippling debts.

Prosecutor David Jenkins said she offered a variety of services from escorting to life coaching and full sex.

Such was the success of her business she decided to rent two flats in the upmarket Ocean Village and run them as brothels, he said.

Symington, of Ocean Way, Ocean Village, recruited girls to work from the penthouse flats under the agency name of Elite Devine Honeys in what was described by Mr Jenkins as “a very high-class set up”.

The girls were provided with accommodation, security camera, video intercom along with contraceptives and a variety of sex toys.

Charging anything from £80 for “girlfriend experiences” to £2,000 for a weekend, Symington, who worked under the name of Lucy Devine, took a cut of the profits from which she paid the rent and other utility bills.

Over the course of the four months the brothel was operational from May to August last year police believe the business made almost £34,000.

When the search warrant was executed by police a purse containing £13,410 in cash was found along with a quantity of amphetamine that Symington later said in interview was for personal use to help her lose weight.

Dressed in a figure hugging black suit with animal print collar and cuffs, Symington sat motionless during the hearing, only stifling a smile when details of her on-line advertisement describing herself as “a young dark haired babe” who was “perfect and perky” were read out.

Mitigating for Symington, who was found guilty of controlling or managing a brothel for the use of prostitution, possessing criminal property – meaning the profits – and admitted possessing a class B drug, Toby Long said she had been “disarmingly” honest and had cooperated fully with police.

He said that her former boyfriend had all but coerced her into opening the brothels and had taken much of the profits she was making for himself.

Sentencing her to seven months in prison, suspended for a year and imposing a £250 fine, Recorder Nigel Pascoe said to Symington: “In life there are sometimes turning points and you may like to consider that not going to prison today maybe the turning point in your life, but that is a matter for you.”