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Eight alleged predators accused of the rape and sexual exploitation of two 13-year-old girls in Rochdale “abused, degraded and discarded” them in an “appalling” way, a jury has heard.
The complainants from the age of 13 were expected to have sex with the defendants and others “whenever and wherever the men wanted” from 2001-6, jurors at Manchester Minshull Street court were told.
Rossano Scamardella KC, prosecuting, said the defendants were all older Asian men. He said the girls who were vulnerable with “deeply troubled” home lives “became sex slaves”.
“Their treatment at the hands of these predators was appalling.”
Both girls were known to the authorities, Scamardella said. “Their school attendance was poor, they were often missing from home, and their behaviour at times was difficult.”
The jury heard that it was not by chance that the girls were chosen. “The defendants were only too aware of their tender ages and the difficulties they were experiencing with day-to-day life. It was obvious that they craved the attention that their home lives and families did not provide, which made them easy prey for older men to exploit.”
He continued: “These men preyed upon those vulnerabilities for their own perverted sexual gratification in the most humiliating and degrading way imaginable.”
The court heard that the girls hung around with groups of Asian men at a number of locations, including parks, woods, Rochdale market and a snooker hall. They were driven about and dropped off at houses and flats by the men, the court heard.
Scamardella said the girls were made to feel like grownups and given alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, places to stay and people to be with.
“Over time, it is perhaps easy to see how they became beholden to men who, for the first time in their lives, treated them properly and gave them the attention they so desperately craved.”
He said the girls were expected to have sex with these men and others, whenever and wherever the men wanted. It could be multiple men in one day, “in filthy flats and on rancid mattresses. On other occasions, they would be required to have sex in cars, car parks, alleyways or disused warehouses. Wherever and whenever these men wanted it.
“Unprotected sex was routine. The girls were lied to about it being forbidden for Muslim men to use protection … These men cared not a bit about sexually transmitted diseases or unwanted pregnancies.”
The court heard the depravity of the men “knew no bounds”.
One girl was abandoned on the Moors and made to make her own way home, the court heard.
The authorities knew the girls were having sex with older Asian men, but no one stepped in, Scamardella said.
“Both girls were well known to social services and other agencies, and it was no secret that both girls were having sex with older Asian men. No reports were made to the police, and nothing was done. No action was taken to stop what was happening to these two girls or to stop other similarly vulnerable girls suffering the same fate.”
Scamardella said an investigation into child sexual exploitation in Rochdale began in 2010, and one of the complainants was approached, but she declined to get involved.
By 2015 she had changed her mind and reported that she was a victim and was willing to engage with the investigation.
Scamardella said Rochdale and surrounding parts of Greater Manchester had been “blighted” by this type of child sexual exploitation.
“Since 2010, there has been seven major police operations which have investigated and, in some cases prosecuted, offences of child sexual exploitation.”
The defendants have denied all the charges. They are: Naheem Akram, 48, of Rochdale; Mohammed Shazad, 43, of Rochdale; Nisar Hussain, 43, of Rochdale; Mohammed Zahid, 64, of Crumpsall, Manchester; Roheez Khan, 39, of Rochdale; Arfan Khan, 40, of Rochdale; Mustaq Ahmed, 66, of Oldham and Kasir Bashir, 50, of Oldham.
The trial, expected to last 12 weeks, continues.
