25 years old and has been working the streets for Derek pretty much since she met him eleven years ago. She is tough, but has had to become that way in order to deal with the life she has decided to lead. She has had to do some pretty dark things for Derek in the past, but his latest request is the worst. She undertakes the job without fully realising the possible consequences, either morally or physically. She needs the money. When she finds Joanne, what starts as a means to an end, soon develops into a situation where Kelly is her guardian, dropping her barriers in order to save a girl she initially brings into harm. Kelly sees herself in Joanne, as she was when she was a young girl. She also recognises that Joanne could well follow her own footsteps into a life on the streets. She has the chance to do something about it, and she takes it.

11 years old. After taking all she can from her abusive father back in her home town of Nottingham, she runs away in an attempt to get to her grandmother who lives on the south coast. Joanne has managed to evade capture by the police for nearly two days and her feistiness is something that makes Kelly think she can handle the job in hand. But underneath a layer of defensiveness and a streetwise attitude is a young girl whose innocence shines through increasingly as she spends more time with Kelly. Joanne accepts the job with her eye on the only thing she can understand about the situation, the money. Trusting Kelly is her initial downfall, but Kelly becomes her saviour as they embark on a dangerous journey out of London.

A 31 year old, low end London pimp who targets vulnerable young girls he knows he can overpower, both physically and mentally. Kelly was his first girl years ago after they met in a homeless shelter and was, up until last night, his most trusted girl. Derek is either intimidating or intimidated, so after forcing his latest girl to sleep with two of his friends he becomes the victim after Stuart Allen turns up with a couple of his men and a cut throat razor. Although Derek is scum, he can get you anything, so people who are higher up the food chain call on him for services they might not be able to get anywhere else. However, this time a deal hasn't worked out how he would have hoped and his life is on the line to clear things up.

34 years old. The son of Duncan Allen who watches over various "legitimate" businesses that the family own. Stuart has lived with the knowledge of his father's secret vice since he was a child, and his inability to confront him has shaped the cold and calculated man Stuart is today. When he discovers what has happened at his father's house the previous night, he wants answers for his own closure and to avenge those who are responsible. Very different to Derek, nothing is instinctual with Stuart; it is always pre-meditated and emotionless as he digests everything that goes on around him. After tonight, when he catches up with Derek and Chum and the two girls, two will die and two will be left to live. He just needs to decide whom.

Originally from Scotland, he has been living in London for thirty years and has built up an empire of clubs, bars and other "legitimate" businesses. He is cold and brutal, and those who cross him come off badly. This includes his son, Stuart, who has lived with the knowledge that his father is also a paedophile for twenty years.