Rochdale child-sex trial: Witness describes alleged rape of girl, 15

A witness to an alleged rape has described the moment she believed an underage girl was being forced to have sex for money.

She was speaking at Liverpool Crown Court at the trial of 11 men accused of being part of a child-sex ring in Rochdale, Greater Manchester.

The girl, now 20, gave evidence from behind a curtain to hide her identity.

All the men deny conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children under the age of 16.

The court was told the witness was 15 when she went for a drink with friends at the flat of one of the defendants in Jephys Street, Rochdale.

She said two Asian men came in, one was said to be taxi driver Mohammed Amin, who she described as "dead creepy".

Two teenage girls also entered the flat, one who was described as "a big girl... like a honeymonster".

The witness said the girls were offered vodka and it was "all normal" until "honeymonster" started "going on about how they had sex with Asian guys for money".

She told the court: "I just started laughing. I didn't know what to say to be honest."

The witness then told the jury that the girl said she was "not doing it herself. She was getting other people to do it for her".

"She was sat there, like, with this big smirk on her face like it was something to be proud of," she said.

The court was told the other 15-year-old girl who came in with the group was quiet and drinking vodka before the older girl told her to go to the bedroom with a "skinny Pakistani man" who had come in with them.

The witness said the girl said: "No, I want to drink my drink."

"You could tell she didn't want to go," she told the jury.

She said the girl eventually went to the bedroom after about 15 minutes but that she looked at them as though she wanted someone to say something.

"I thought she was easy. I thought she was dirty. I knew she was going to have sex because they were talking about it before."

Then, the witness described how after about another 15 minutes she heard crying in the bedroom.

She went in and saw the girl sitting on the bed with no underwear on.

"She was scared. She was crying quite a lot. He was walking out of the bedroom," she said.

"He was saying, 'I got you a bottle of vodka'. Then she said 'No, I want my money'."

She added: "I then remember (honeymonster) coming into the bedroom and she started laughing.

"And I said 'Why are you laughing at that? That's disgusting'.

"She was vulnerable and she was a young girl. She obviously had problems... and someone that can do that to someone... that's disgusting," the jury heard.

Kabeer Hassan, 24; Abdul Aziz, 41; Abdul Rauf, 43; Mohammed Sajid, 35; Adil Khan, 42; Abdul Qayyum, 43; Mohammed Amin, 44; Qamar Shahzad, 29; Liaquat Shah, 41 and Hamid Safi, 22, all deny conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children under the age of 16.

A 59-year-old man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, denies the same charge.

He also denies two counts of rape, aiding and abetting a rape, one count of sexual assault and an allegation of trafficking within the UK for sexual exploitation.

The trial continues.