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Rotherham grooming ring accused of 51 sexual abuse offences against teenagers Rotherham grooming victim was used to settle abuser's debts, jury told
(about 1 hour later)
Five men and two women targeted, sexualised and subjected teenage girls to degrading acts including prostitution and forced sex as part of a major grooming ring in Rotherham uncovered by police, a court has heard. One of the teenage victims of a major grooming ring uncovered by police in Rotherham was forced into sexual relations with men on an almost daily basis and used as a commodity to settle her abuser’s debts, a court has heard.
The seven defendants are facing 51 counts of alleged historical sex crimes stretching back almost 30 years against the girls, one just 12 at the time. In an 18-page indictment, the jury learned that the first alleged offence took place in 1987, with the remainder taking place between 1990 and 2003. The girl, who was in and out of care from the age of 12, was allegedly taken around the country and made to perform sexual acts on many men, becoming pregnant twice, once when she was only 14.
Michelle Colborne, QC, prosecuting, said the seven targeted 12 girls, all local and some of them in care. “Some had unsettled home lives, had suffered previous ill treatment or abuse and some were in local authority care when they were befriended by and subsequently groomed by the defendants,” she said, opening the case at Sheffield crown court. She had just turned 16 and was still in the care of the local authority when she was forced into sexual relations on almost a daily basis, the jury was told. She terminated the first pregnancy but later gave birth to a boy who was looked after by her mother.
The seven defendants were said to have “facilitated the sexual abuse of teenage girls”. Arshid Hussain, 40, played a key role in the abuse of the girls, the court heard. He “often prostituted them or passed them on to his brothers or associates”, it is alleged. The girl is one of 12 allegedly groomed in a child sexual exploitation ring led by seven people, including two sets of brothers and two women, who are accused of 51 counts of abuse at Sheffield crown court.
One alleged victim, now 36 and named in court as Girl B, was subjected to regular sex attacks by Hussain, who passed her round to other men when she was in the care of the local authority, sometimes in exchange for his debts, lawyers claimed. They are accused of historical child sexual exploitation stretching back almost 30 years against the girls, several of whom were in care or vulnerable and in unsettled homes.
She is said to have been forced into sexual relations with Hussein, whom she met while in a children’s home, “on an almost daily basis”, becoming pregnant twice, once when she was just 14. She terminated the first pregnancy but later gave birth to a son who was looked after by her mother. The jury heard on Thursday that one of the girls was just 12 years old when she was abused, while the grooming of another victim started with treats of “sweets and pop” and progressed to gifts of perfume and a mobile phone. Another was forced into prostitution.
The jury heard that before Girl B turned 16, and while she was still in local authority care, she was forced to have sex with different men every day. The catalogue of alleged abuse, which spanned more than a decade from 1990 to 2003, was said to have been masterminded by Arshid Hussain, 40, who is facing 29 counts relating to nine of the 12 girls. The court heard that he passed the lead victim to his brother and friends and arranged her abuse in flats, garages and houses in the Rotherham area and in London.
The jury were also told that Girl B was “trafficked” by Hussain “to have sexual relations with other men in flats, some garages, houses in the area and in London”. The violence allegedly became regular and no one in the victim’s care home expressed concern when she returned bloodied or shaken from encounters with the defendants, prosecutor Michelle Colborne QC told the jury.
The violence became regular and no one in the children’s home was interested whether she came home in a bloodied state or not, Colborne told the jury. Girl B recalled that on one occasion she ran away from Hussain, but he caught her and bundled her into the boot of a car and set off to a house in Tottenham in London, where she was asked to have sex or engage in oral sex with five men, all in their 20s. Colborne said the victim recalled that on one occasion she ran away from Hussain but he caught her and bundled her into the boot of a car and set off to a house in Tottenham, north London, where she was asked to have sex or engage in oral sex with five men, all in their 20s.
“Afterwards she was driven back to Rotherham and Mad Ash [a defendant] told her he loved her,” said Colborne. She eventually started taking heroin and became addicted over time, the court heard. “Afterwards she was driven back to Rotherham and Mad Ash told her he loved her,” said Colborne. She was not the only girl in care who was preyed on by Hussain, his brother and the five other defendants in the dock.
The prosecutor told the jury: “His exploitation of [her] was violent and protracted. Colborne added that the seven targeted 12 girls who were all local and some of them in care. “Some had unsettled home lives, had suffered previous ill treatment or abuse, and some were in local authority care when they were befriended by and subsequently groomed by the defendants,” she said, opening the case at Sheffield crown court.
“Initially she attempted to say no but was always beaten if she refused and quickly learned to give in to his demands.” In differing ways the seven defendants were all said to have “facilitated the sexual abuse of teenage girls”. Directly addressing the most severely abused victim, named as Girl B in the case, the prosecutor added: “Initially she attempted to say no but was always beaten if she refused and quickly learned to give in to his demands.
“She was beaten, had a cigarette stubbed out on her chest, she was tied up, she was raped orally, vaginally and anally from a very young age, often by numerous men, one after the other, at the say-so of Arshid Hussain.” She said: “She was insecure and vulnerable and believed he was her boyfriend.” “She was beaten, had a cigarette stubbed out on her chest, she was tied up, she was raped orally, vaginally and anally from a very young age, often by numerous men, one after the other, at the say-so of Arshid Hussain. She was insecure and vulnerable and believed he was her boyfriend.
“[Hussain] was domineering and in some instances brutal in his treatment of girls. He used them for his own gratification,” said Colborne. “He was assisted in differing ways by the other defendants, each willingly engaging in exploitative behaviour and using the girls to their own ends.”“[Hussain] was domineering and in some instances brutal in his treatment of girls. He used them for his own gratification,” said Colborne. “He was assisted in differing ways by the other defendants, each willingly engaging in exploitative behaviour and using the girls to their own ends.”
The trial is the first to take place since the Jay report into child exploitation in the Rotherham area was published last year.The trial is the first to take place since the Jay report into child exploitation in the Rotherham area was published last year.
The jury heard that Hussain was involved with his brother, Basharat, 38, and a third defendant, Qurban Ali, 53, who was their uncle. Arshid Hussain was known by the girls as “Mad Ash” while his uncle, who walked into the dock with a white stick, was nicknamed “Blind Ash”, she said.The jury heard that Hussain was involved with his brother, Basharat, 38, and a third defendant, Qurban Ali, 53, who was their uncle. Arshid Hussain was known by the girls as “Mad Ash” while his uncle, who walked into the dock with a white stick, was nicknamed “Blind Ash”, she said.
Also in the dock are brothers Sajid Bostan, 38, and Majid Bostan, 37, associates of the Hussain brothers, and two women, Karen MacGregor, 58, and Shelley Davies, 40, who associated with one another and with Ali and Arshid Hussain. Also in the dock are brothers Sajid Bostan, 38, and Majid Bostan, 37, associates of the Hussain brothers, and two women, Karen MacGregor, 58, and Shelley Davies, 40, who associated with one another and with Ali and Arshid Hussain. All seven deny the charges.
All seven deny the charges. The jury heard that the defendants dominated the girls and got them to acquiesce to oral sex, sexual intercourse or anal sex, sometimes repeatedly. Explaining how the grooming allegedly worked, Colborne told the jury that one of the alleged victims, Girl A, lived in “squalid conditions” in the 1980s and was befriended by Davies, who was just three years older and took her to stay at MacGregor’s house. Girl A thought the house was “posh” and “she was made to feel welcome and was fed and clothed”.
Explaining how the grooming worked, Colborne told the jury that one of the alleged victims, Girl A, lived in “squalid conditions” in the 1980s and was befriended by Davies, who was just three years older and took her to stay at MacGregor’s house. Girl A thought the house was “posh” and “she was made to feel welcome and was fed and clothed”.
The prosecution said “there would always be Asian men in the house in the early hours”. One of these men was Blind Ash, it is alleged. A couple of nights after she moved in she was assaulted by an Asian man, the jury was told.The prosecution said “there would always be Asian men in the house in the early hours”. One of these men was Blind Ash, it is alleged. A couple of nights after she moved in she was assaulted by an Asian man, the jury was told.
Colborne said Girl A was plied with vodka in the company of MacGregor, Davies and about six men and was then taken upstairs where her lower clothing was removed entirely and she was assaulted by an unknown man. She cried for help twice and he ran from the room but no one came to her aid, the court was told.Colborne said Girl A was plied with vodka in the company of MacGregor, Davies and about six men and was then taken upstairs where her lower clothing was removed entirely and she was assaulted by an unknown man. She cried for help twice and he ran from the room but no one came to her aid, the court was told.
Girl A, who was between 15 and 17 years old at the time and is now 43, told no one about the incident until she reported it this year after seeing allegations about the defendant in the press and on Facebook, the court head.Girl A, who was between 15 and 17 years old at the time and is now 43, told no one about the incident until she reported it this year after seeing allegations about the defendant in the press and on Facebook, the court head.
MacGregor accepted she knew Davies and Blind Ash but denied bringing girls to her house. The prosecution said she was not the kind of woman she claimed to be, helping vulnerable girls, but she had “deliberately set out to make girls available for sexual encounters with older men”.MacGregor accepted she knew Davies and Blind Ash but denied bringing girls to her house. The prosecution said she was not the kind of woman she claimed to be, helping vulnerable girls, but she had “deliberately set out to make girls available for sexual encounters with older men”.
The alleged ringleader, Arshid Hussain, of East Cowick, Goole, has been charged with 29 offences against nine girls, including four counts of rape and 11 counts of indecent assault. He is also charged with buggery, procuring girls for prostitution or unlawful sexual intercourse, aiding and abetting other alleged rapes, abduction of a 15-year-old girl and false imprisonment of another girl.
His brother, Basharat Hussain, of no fixed abode, is facing 15 charges including one alleged rape, five indecent assaults, one count of procuring a girl to have unlawful sexual intercourse with another and false imprisonment.
He also faces three counts of indecency with a child in relation to a girl who was under 14 at the time of the alleged offences, one count of procuring a woman under 21 to become a prostitute, two assaults occasioning actual bodily harm and one count of making threats to kill.
Sajid Bostan, of Broom, denies three counts of rape, two counts of aiding and abetting rape, buggery and one indecent assault of a girl over 11 years.
Majid Bostan, also of Broom, has been charged with indecent assault over five years of one of the girls who also went to police about Arshid Hussain’s alleged child abuse. He denies all charges.
The fifth man in the dock, Qurban Ali, from Masbrough, faces four charges including rape, indecent assault, and procuring a girl to have unlawful sex with another. He denies all charges.
He is also charged with alleged involvement in a rape plot with three others – two women and Arshid Hussain. The rape was alleged to have occured at the house of one of the female defendants, MacGregor, from Wath, south Yorkshire.
MacGregor is facing four charges including false imprisonment of a girl in her house and conspiracy to rape the same girl in a plot involving Ali Hussain and the second woman in the dock, Davies. She has also been accused of conspiring with another unknown person to rape another girl.
Davies, from Kimberworth Park, Rotherham, is charged with conspiracy to rape, conspiracy to procure a child to become a prostitute and unlawful imprisonment. Davies and MacGregor deny all charges.
The trial continues.The trial continues.