A woman who alleges men sexually assaulted her said she became “used to being used as a sex thing” and that they ruined her life as men would randomly phone her up to organise her being subjected to "horrid" abuse by many men.
Written evidence and video interviews with the police were played at the trial of eight men, who are accused of a range of sexual offences allegedly committed against two teenage girls in Rochdale from 2001 to 2006.
The alleged victims have been identified in the court proceedings as Girl A and Girl B.
The defendants at Manchester Crown Court were mostly either taxi drivers or market stall traders in Rochdale when the offences were allegedly committed. They deny all of the allegations made against them.
The defendants appeared before Manchester Crown Court
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The girls were "passed around" for sex before being "discarded", it is alleged.
Girl B previously told the court that she was first targeted when was in care at a children’s home and spent time at Rochdale market, where one of the defendants, Mohammed Zahid, ran a stall.
The jury heard today that Zahid allegedly always gave the girls discounts on underwear and socks.
The court heard that the teenage girl giving evidence had helped him choose the “latest fashion” in stock in Manchester town centre but he did not touch her until she was 14.
“Every week he either took one of us, alone, or both of us,” the court heard from Girl A, in evidence she wrote to the police.
Prosecutor Rossano Scamardella KC read out her evidence, where she said that Zahid took her to a flat where there were “a few men” and some furniture, including an old black stereo, a big black silver TV with Sky and a mattress.
In her testimony, Girl A alleged that he asked her to perform a sex act but she knew that she had “no choice.”
Describing the scene, she said: “I asked Zahid for some money to get some vodka, he said yes but come in the bedroom first.”
She continued: “Zahid gave me £20 for vodka for sleeping with him.”
The jury heard that both girls allegedly had sex in the flat with the men in the flat, with Girl A describing her friend as “vulnerable”.
She added that she stayed in the bedroom for “what seemed hours”, as she “found it hard to say no” as many men entered the room.
One man was described as being relatively short and speaking little English.
Before His Honour Judge Seely, the court then heard evidence about how Girl A met “Zero”, which she said was a nickname for Mohammed Shahzad, a taxi driver and defendant in the trial.
He allegedly proposed sex soon after meeting her, the court heard, and how the girl had a “horrible” experience of being made to perform a sex act in his taxi.
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The jury heard today that Zahid allegedly always gave the girls discounts on underwear and socks
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Her evidence also detailed her allegedly being given ecstasy pills and then being introduced to other men. She said they were “having a laugh” for about an hour in one incident before he started “pulling [her] clothes off.”
Several men witnessed this, she said, as one of the men was recording the ordeal, which involved one of the alleged perpetrators trying to force a vodka bottle inside her.
“10 minutes felt like hours,” she said, adding that she felt “horrid” when she went home.
She was “taunted” the next day at school, with people still referring to the vodka bottle incident years later.
“Everyone I knew in Rochdale either had the video or had seen it off someone else.”
The jury heard that the video was still allegedly being shared around the town, with the girl saying that they had “ruined my life and reputation in Rochdale for a bit of fun.”
She added that she felt they knew she was underage and that they deliberately posted the video online to humiliate her.
The jury was then shown a video of a police interview with Girl A from May 2017.
She said she was 13 when she first met an alleged abuser nicknamed “Lala” after she was stopped while walking home.
She told police that the defendant told her to get into his minibus, where they drove off, and he then allegedly propositioned sexual activity after getting into the back of the vehicle.
Recounting the experience, she said “I knew it was going to happen anyway so I might as well just take my clothes off.”
She added that she “just got used to being used as a sex thing really.”
The jury heard Girl A describing how “he was horrible really” and that he would scream “random s*** at me” in the street.
She said that later he would also throw eggs at her in the street a year after he first abused her.
The jury was shown a video of a police interview with Girl A from May 2017
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She continued that the abuse would take place in “a lot of random places,” such as car parks.
The jury heard that every single time she got into the taxi, there would be some form of sexual contact, but there would be “no real conversation” afterwards, with the girl being driven home in silence by the alleged abuser.
Girl A said that she did not have sex with him again after the vodka video, adding “they ruined my life after that.”
She described how men would allegedly randomly phone her up to organise her being picked up and abused by many men, which she referred to as being like a “blind date” of abusers.
The girl said she finally "stopped seeing everyone" aged 15 and that she had to change her phone number to avoid contact.
The defendants
Mohammed Zahid, 64, of Station Road, Crumpsall, Manchester, is charged with 10 counts of rape; four counts of indecency with a child; and six counts of procuring a girl under 21 to have unlawful sexual intercourse.
Kasir Bashir, 50, of Napier Street East, Oldham, is charged with two counts of rape; and two counts of indecency with a child.
Mushtaq Ahmed, 66, of Corona Avenue, Oldham, is charged with four counts of rape; four counts of indecency with a child; and a single count of procuring a girl under 21 to have unlawful sexual intercourse.
Roheez Khan, 39, of Athole Street, Rochdale, is charged with a single count of rape.
Mohammed Shahzad, 43, of Beswicke Royds Street, Rochdale, is charged with eight counts of rape; and single counts of conspiracy to commit indecency with a child; conspiracy to cause a child to engage in penetrative sexual activity; indecency with a child; indecent assault; and assault by penetration.
Nisar Hussain, 43, of Newfield Close, Rochdale, is charged with four counts of rape; and single counts of conspiracy to commit indecency with a child; conspiracy to cause a child to engage in penetrative sexual activity; indecent assault; and assault by penetration.
Naheem Akram, 48, of Manley Road, Rochdale, is charged with 11 counts of rape; and single counts of conspiracy to commit indecency with a child; conspiracy to cause a child to engage in penetrative sexual activity; indecency with a child; indecent assault; and assault by penetration.
Arfan Khan, 40, of Grouse Street, Rochdale, is charged with two counts of rape; and single counts of conspiracy to commit indecency with a child; and conspiracy to cause a child to engage in penetrative sexual activity.
The defendants deny all of the allegations made against them. The trial continues.
