Telford sex abuse trial: Girl 'passed around like meat'

Defendants (L-R) Nazeem Akhtar, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammed Ali Sultan, Amjad Hussain and Shafiq Younas deny wrongdoing

A girl was "passed around like a piece of meat" while being sold for sex with men, a court heard.

Five men are accused of the abuse of the girl in Telford, Shropshire, which began when she was just 12 years old.

In video evidence, the victim said she "lost count" of the number of men she was raped by and went through two years of "hell".

Mohammed Ali Sultan, Amjad Hussain, Shafiq Younas, Nazam Akhtar and Mohammad Rizwan deny wrongdoing.

Prosecutors at Birmingham Crown Court said the girl was raped on a dirty mattress above a takeaway and forced to perform sex acts in a churchyard.

In evidence, the girl, now an adult, said: "I lost count of how many men I was forced to have sex with."

She recounted being picked up "every day, after school" and "passed around" by takeaway delivery driver Tanveer Ahmed and later Mr Sultan.

She said she had contemplated killing herself.

Some of the assaults were carried out in Wellington, Telford, the prosecution claims

The court heard she was befriended Mr Ahmed who assaulted her before forcing her to perform sex acts on other men.

He is not among the defendants after being deported to Pakistan for "unrelated offences", the jury was told.

More than once he drove her to a flat above a takeaway and forced her to have sex with older men before she saw "saw money exchange hands", Michelle Heeley QC, prosecuting, said.

Ms Heeley said when the victim tried to refuse, Mr Sultan would make threats against her and her family and claimed he would "burn the house down to the ground".

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Mr Sultan, 33, formerly from Telford, faces four charges of indecent assault and one of rape. The jury was told he already had convictions for "similar offences against young girls".

Mr Hussain, 38, of Acacia Drive, Leegomery, is accused of forcing the victim to perform oral sex on two occasions.

Mr Younas, 35, of Regent Street, Wellington, is accused of the same offence, said to have taken place in the same churchyard.

Mr Akhtar, 35, of Victoria Avenue, Wellington is accused of raping the girl in a lane, alongside Mr Sultan and Mr Hussain, and is also said to have urinated on her in an act of humiliation.

Mr Rizwan, 37, of Mafeking Road, Telford, faces two charges of indecent assault.

The trial continues.