Teenager 'repeatedly raped by gang'

A teenager was repeatedly raped by members of a gang who used alcohol and threats of violence to force her to comply with their demands, a court heard today.

The girl, who cannot be identified, said one of the men told her he would "get someone to kill you" unless she got in his car where she was sexually assaulted.

Her police interviews, recorded when she was 15-years-old, were played to jurors at Liverpool Crown Court today where 11 men are accused of being part of a child sexual exploitation ring.

Kabeer Hassan, Abdul Aziz, Abdul Rauf, Mohammed Sajid, Adil Khan, Abdul Qayyum, Mohammed Amin, Qamar Shahzad, Liaquat Shah, Hamid Safi and a 59-year-old man who cannot be named all deny conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children under the age of 16.

The 59-year-old defendant 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.

The offences are said to have happened in and around Rochdale, Greater Manchester, in 2008 and 2009.

During police interviews, the girl, now aged 19, told of occasions when she and a friend were targeted by the 59-year-old as they were "hanging around" on the streets of the town.

One time he stopped his car, she said, and told her to get inside and when she refused he said: "If you don't get in I'll get someone to kill you."

She said he also told her he would tell her mother that she had been having sex with him and she became so frightened she agreed to get into the vehicle.

He then drove her to an industrial spot on the outskirts of Heywood, near Rochdale, where he forced her to perform a sex act, she said.

The girl stated: "I said I didn't want to do it, I said let go of me. But he wouldn't, he just carried on."

On another occasion, the girl said the defendant bought her a litre-sized bottle of vodka and after she was drunk he forced her to have sex with another man.

She said: "He said he had given me a treat and now I had to give the other man a treat."

The girl said she was then taken to a dingy room where she was raped on a mattress on the floor.

Asked what was going though her mind, she said: "I just thought, I'm going to have to let him do it."

The trial has heard prosecution claims that the gang plied five girls, aged as young as 13, with drink and drugs so they could "pass them around" and use them for sex.

Rachel Smith, prosecuting, said one 13-year-old victim fell pregnant to one of the defendants and had the child aborted.

Another teenager recalled being raped by two men while she was "so drunk she was vomiting over the side of the bed".

Hassan, 24, Aziz, 41, Rauf, 43, Sajid, 35, Khan, 42, Qayyum, 43, Amin, 44, Shahzad, 29, Shah, 41, and Safi, 22, all live in the Greater Manchester area.

The trial was adjourned and will resume at 10.30am tomorrow.

PA