Rotherham abuse trial: CID officer 'paid for safe house details'

Seven people are on trial at Sheffield Crown Court in connection with the alleged the sexual exploitation of children in Rotherham

A man accused of sexually abusing vulnerable girls in Rotherham paid a police officer for information, a court has heard.

Basharat Hussain, one of seven defendants, had "somebody in CID", a witness told Sheffield Crown Court.

The woman said he had paid for information about a safe house and for details of "when he was going to get busted".

Mr Hussain, 39, denies 16 offences linked to child abuse in Rotherham.

Panic alarm

The court heard the woman began a relationship with Mr Hussain, who she referred to as 'Bash', in 2000 when she was 15.

He had been violent towards her on a number of occasions, she said, and had made a series of death threats.

When she was 16, she told the court, a panic alarm was fitted at her home after Mr Hussain had broken in.

At one stage, she said, there had been discussions about moving her to a safe house and changing her identity, but Mr Hussain found out what had been said.

"Bash actually phoned me and told me this is what were happening and he actually told me where I were going," she said.

"He said that he had always got somebody in CID to tell him these sorts of things and he used to pay this person in CID money and this person would say what's happening with me and he'd also tell him when he was going to get busted."

Arshid Hussain, 40, High Street, East Cowick, Goole, faces 30 charges, including five counts of rape.

Qurban Ali, 53, Clough Road, Rotherham, faces four charges, including rape and conspiracy to rape.

Majid Bostan, 37, Ledsham Road, Rotherham faces one charge of indecent assault.

Sajid Bostan, 38, Broom Avenue, Rotherham faces seven charges, including four counts of rape,.

Basharat Hussain, 39, of no fixed abode, faces 16 charges including two counts of rape.

Karen MacGregor, 58, Barnsley Road, Wath, South Yorkshire, faces three charges, including conspiracy to rape.

Shelley Davies, 40, Wainwright Road, Kimberworth Park, Rotherham, faces three charges, including conspiracy to rape.

After a time, she said, the violence became "normal" and she had "learned to live with it".

She told the court she had changed to such an extent after meeting Mr Hussain that her family called her "Bash's creation".

The trial continues.