Muslim gang used alcohol and money to lure English children, jury hears

ON TRIAL: Mohammed Amin denies sexual assault

I saw [English] girl forced to go with [Asian Muslim] men, Rochdale sex grooming trial jury is told

John Scheerhout

2 March, 2012

A girl sobbed as she told a jury how she saw another youngster who was allegedly recruited into a child exploitation ring forced to have sex with a man.

She described how the girl was drinking Jack Daniels with friends at a flat in Rochdale when she saw the alleged victim arrive.

She told the court how the alleged victim was with two men, and a much larger girl.

One of the men, said the witness, was chubby and bald and introduced himself as Car Zero.

Prosecutors say Car Zero was 44-year-old taxi driver Mohammed Amin.

The second man was skinny and offered a bottle of vodka to a girl he wanted to have sex with, according to the witness.

The witness told the jury that the girls said they ‘have sex with Asian guys for money’. She said: "It was like some big achievement. I thought it was disgusting."

The witness told the court the larger girl would not have sex with the men herself but said she would get others to do it for her.

She said: "She was sitting there with a big smirk on her face like it was something to be proud of."

The prosecution say the larger girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, acted with 11 men from Rochdale and Oldham to exploit children as young as 13 for sex in exchange for food, money and alcohol.

The men deny a series of offences at the trial at Liverpool Crown Court.

Giving evidence from behind screens, the witness described how the girl was pestered for 15 minutes to have sex with the skinny man.

The witness said: "He kept saying ‘come one’ and (the larger girl) was saying ‘go on’. She said ‘No, I have got to drink my drink’. You could tell she didn’t want to go. She was scared.

"I thought she was easy and dirty. I knew she was going to have sex because they were talking about it before."

She said that after a few minutes she heard crying coming from the bedroom. She told the court she went in with her friend and saw the girl naked and crying.

The witness said: "I said ‘what’s up?’ – and she said ‘tell that bastard to give me my money’."

Kabeer Hassan, 24, Abdul Aziz, 41, Abdul Rauf, 43, Mohammed Sajid, 35, Adil Khan, 42, Abdul Qayyum, 43, of Ramsay Street, Rochdale, Mohammed Amin, 44, Qamar Shahzad, 29, Liaquat Shah, 41, and Hamid Safi, 22, are charged with conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children under the age of 16.

They have all pleaded not guilty along with a 59-year-old man who cannot be named for legal reasons.

He also denies two counts of rape, aiding and abetting a rape, one count of sexual assault and an allegation of trafficking within the UK for sexual exploitation.

Hassan, of Lacrosse Avenue, Oldham, and Shahzad, of Tweedale Street, Rochdale, also deny rape.

Aziz, of Armstrong Hurst Close, Rochdale, denies two counts of rape and one allegation of trafficking for sexual exploitation. Khan, of Oswald Street, and Rauf, of Darley Road, both in Rochdale, have also pleaded not guilty to trafficking for sexual exploitation.

Sajid, of Jepheys Street, Rochdale, denies trafficking, two counts of rape and one allegation of sexual activity with a child.

Amin, of Falinge Road, Rochdale, denies sexual assault. Shah and Safi, both of Kensington Street, Rochdale, each denied two counts of rape and Safi has also pleaded not guilty to trafficking.

Proceeding.

Manchester Evening News