Rochdale gang 'used girls as sex slaves' - trial

Eight men are accused of sexually exploiting underage girls in Rochdale

Two teenage girls were treated as "sex slaves" by a gang of Asian men from Rochdale who "abused, degraded and then discarded" them over a five-year period, a court has heard.

Eight men have gone on trial accused of 56 sexual offences, including grooming, sexually exploiting and raping the two 13-year old's between 2001 and 2006.

Jurors at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court were told the girls were "passed around for sex" by the gang, led by market trader Mohammed Zahid, known to the girls as "Bossman".

Mohammed Zahid, Kashir Bashir, Mushtaq Ahmed, Roheez Khan, Mohammed Shahzad, Nisar Hussain, Naheem Akram and Arfhan Khan deny all the allegations against them.

The court heard the girls were driven around Rochdale and abused

The girls have been referred to as Girl A and Girl B in the trial to protect their anonymity.

In 2015, Girl A contacted Greater Manchester Police to say she had been the victim of child sexual exploitation and Girl B later followed with similar allegations.

Opening the prosecution case, Rossano Scamardella KC said both girls were "well known to social services and it was no secret the girls were having sex with older Asian men".

"No reports were made to the police and nothing was done," he said

'Easy prey'

Mr Scamardella said the men "preyed upon" the girls "for their own perverted sexual gratification, in the most humiliating and degrading way imaginable".

They were "easy prey for older men to exploit" because they "craved the attention that their home lives and families did not provide", he said.

"The girls were expected to have sex with these men and others, whenever and wherever the men wanted."

The court was told they were made to have sex in "filthy flats and on rancid mattresses", and other times in "cars, car parks, alleyways or disused warehouses".

Mr Scamardella said "unprotected sex was routine", and the girls were "lied to about it being forbidden for Muslim men to use protection".

Girl A "lived with her mother but had no real home life to speak of", Mr Scamardella said, while he said Girl B "had been in care since she was just seven years old".

Rochdale and the surrounding parts of Greater Manchester "have been blighted by this type of child sexual exploitation", he added.

'Vulnerable girls'

Mr Zahid, now 64, is the only defendant accused of raping and sexually abusing both Girl A and Girl B, who did not know each other.

The jury was told Mr Zahid, in his 40s at the time, "was at the centre of what happened to each of them".

The court heard he ran an underwear stall and was known as "Bossman or the Knickerman".

In one instance he is accused of abusing Girl A in his car as she wore her school uniform.

"No action was taken to stop what was happening to these two girls or to stop other similarly vulnerable girls suffering the same fate," Mr Scamardella said, despite both being know to social services.

The jury was told some of the defendants were connected to Rochdale Market while others were taxi drivers.

Judge Jonathan Seely told the jury it was "inevitable" the allegations in the case could "give rise to strong emotions" but he told them "you must try the case coolly and dispassionately without letting your emotions cloud your judgement".

Additional reporting by PA Media