Rochdale 'child sex-ring' trial: Girl 'grabbed by throat'

A 15-year-old victim of a child sex ring was "grabbed by the throat" when she refused to have sex, a jury heard.

Liverpool Crown Court was told the victim was forced to have sex with 21 men over two years.

The girl was one of five alleged victims, including one aged 13 at the time, who were allegedly "shared" and "passed around" by 11 men.

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

The offences are said to have happened in and around Rochdale, Greater Manchester, in 2008 and 2009.

Police interviews were played to jurors in which a 15-year-old victim, who is now 19, re-lived the moment she was taken to the home of Adil Khan, one of the defendants, who was known to the girls as "Billy".

They were saying things like, 'she's fat but she'll be easy'”

She went to the house in Oswald Street, Rochdale, with a slightly older girl (Girl A) and four men were waiting for them.

The teenager, who cannot be identified, refused to have sex with one of the men who then turned on her.

She said he had grabbed her throat after she had sworn at him.

The teenager told police she was "scared" of Girl A, who was pushing her into having sex with numerous men.

The jury heard how she was raped and forced to have sex with numerous men by the 59-year-old defendant - the only one of the 11 who cannot be identified.

Then another of the defendants, Abdul Aziz, known to the girls as Tariq, "took over", the jury was told.

Jurors heard she would see Girl A and Mr Aziz at the Tasty Bites takeaway in Market Street, Heywood, where she was introduced to men whom she was expected to have sex with.

The takeaway is now under new management.

The witness said the men there had made her feel "scared" and "awful".

"They were saying things like, 'she's fat but she'll be easy, and things like that'," she told the police.

Asked in the police interview why she did not leave earlier, she responded: "I don't know. I got scared of [Girl A] and scared of Tariq."

Girl A threatened to tell the victim's mother what she had been doing and also said she would "get her battered" if she did not have sex with the men she was taken to, jurors heard.

Mr Aziz would get paid £30 or £40 and the girls would sometimes get £10. Other times they would not be paid at all, the court was told.

Jurors heard that Girl A even forced her 13-year-sister into having sex with the men.

The girl became pregnant and had an abortion, it is alleged.

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.