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Gateshead grooming gang accused 'did not know girl's age' Gateshead grooming gang accused 'did not have sex with girl'
(1 day later)
Six men are on trial at Newcastle Crown Court The accused met some of their alleged victims in Gateshead's Saltwell Park, a court has heard
A man accused of raping a 14-year-old girl as part of a grooming gang has told jurors he did not know how old she was and never encouraged her to have sex with others. A man accused of raping a drugged 14-year-old girl has told a grooming gang trial he never spoke to or had sex with her and had no knowledge of her being "pimped out".
Leonard Paun was 16 or 17 when he met the girl and he believed they were in an "on-off" consensual sexual relationship, Newcastle Crown Court heard. Ionut Mihai said he and his friends just went to play football in Saltwell Park in Gateshead, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
The now 23-year-old is one of six men who have denied offences against six girls, aged between 13 and 16, in Gateshead between 2015 and 2019. The 28-year-old is one of six men who deny offences against six girls, aged between 13 and 16, in Gateshead between 2015 and 2019.
Mr Paun, who moved to the UK from Romania in 2011 and has the right to remain and work, said he "loved" the girl and had not known she was seeing other men. One girl has made allegations against all six men with Mr Mihai the third defendant, after Codrin Dura and Leonard Paun, to take to the witness box and deny offending against her.
He said he first met the girl in Saltwell Park while he was playing football with his friends and believed her to be about 17, adding she never told him her age. Mr Mihai, a Romanian national who worked in car washes after moving to the UK in 2016, said he would play football with his friends, including some of his co-accused, in the park and there would sometimes be girls around.
He told jurors they were "getting along perfectly fine" and had an "on-off" relationship, with him considering them to be boyfriend and girlfriend. He said he never spoke to the girl he is accused of raping and believed she was Mr Paun's "girlfriend", adding he also thought she was about 16 or 17 and did not find her attractive.
Sex work claims 'Don't know about pimping'
When asked by his barrister Glenn Gatland if the girl ever discussed having sex, Mr Paun said: "Yes, she said she just wanted to jump on and do it." Mr Mihai's barrister, Caroline Goodwin KC, said it was being suggested by prosecutors that the girl was made to have sex with him, asking him: "Did that ever take place?"
Mr Paun said they had sex a number of times at his home and it was always consensual, with the couple the only ones present. Mr Mihai replied: "No it did not, never."
The girl previously told the court Mr Paun had raped her in a car park and he had taken her to flat for her to have sex with other men. He is accused of having sex with her on a bench and in a car and being present at a flat where she claimed she was raped by multiple men.
When asked if any of that had happened, Mr Paun replied: "No." Mr Mihai said he had not had sex with her and never went to a flat with his friends.
Mr Gatland asked if Mr Paun had ever facilitated or encouraged the girl to have sex with other men, to which Mr Paun replied: "No I did not." In cross-examination, prosecutor Emma Dowling asked if Mr Mihai knew the girl was "addicted" to cocaine given to her by some of the co-accused, to which he replied he did not know she was using drugs.
The girl also alleged Mr Paun suggested sending her to Romania to do sex work, which Mr Paun denied. Ms Dowling asked if Mr Paun was "pimping" the girl out and "giving her to his friends for sex", to which Mr Mihai replied: "I don't know about that."
"I don't have enough money to go to Ryton, never mind Romania," Mr Paun told jurors. 'Mistaken or lying'
'Scared of police' The prosecutor put it to the defendant he did know as he was one of the men the girl was made to have sex with, but Mr Mihai said that was "incorrect".
He said the girl would drink alcohol and get "very high on cocaine", but when he told her to stop she said it was "her life and can she do what she wants". Ms Dowling asked if there was an occasion when the girl had been so under the influence of drugs that Mr Mihai had to hold her up as she was sexually assaulted, to which Mr Mihai replied: "No, that's incorrect."
He said he started to suspect she was seeing other men, including his co-accused Codrin Dura, but he "loved" her and "wanted to ignore" the possibility of her being with others. When asked why the girl had named him in her allegations, Mr Mihai said it was a "mistake" or she was "lying".
Mr Dura, who is accused of giving the girl drugs and raping her, previously told jurors "it never happened".
Mr Paun was asked why he told police the two only had sex once during a two to three-week relationship, which was at odds with what he was telling jurors.
He said that was his first interaction with the police and he was "very scared" and "fearful" with "not knowing what was going to happen".
Mr Paun said the girl sent him photographs and videos of herself even after she had reported him to police and he had been arrested.
He also said the girl apologised to him for everything she put him through and claimed "words had been put in her mouth" by others.
The defendants are all from Gateshead and the allegations against them are:The defendants are all from Gateshead and the allegations against them are:
Codrin Dura, 27, in relation to two girls, denies eight counts of rape, three counts of sexual activity with a child, attempted rape, sexual assault, blackmail, arranging the commission of a child sex offence and supplying a class A drug Codrin Dura, 27, in relation to two girls, denies eight counts of rape, three counts of sexual activity with a child, attempted rape, sexual assault, blackmail, arranging the commission of a child sex offence and supplying a Class A drug
Leonard Paun, 23, in relation to two girls, denies five counts of rape, sexual activity with a child, two counts of arranging the commission of a child sex offence, supplying Class A drugs, sexual assault and distributing indecent photographs of a childLeonard Paun, 23, in relation to two girls, denies five counts of rape, sexual activity with a child, two counts of arranging the commission of a child sex offence, supplying Class A drugs, sexual assault and distributing indecent photographs of a child
Ionut Mihai, 28, denies three counts of rape in relation to one girlIonut Mihai, 28, denies three counts of rape in relation to one girl
Bogdan Gugiuman, 44, denies four counts of rape and one of supplying a Class A drug in relation to one girlBogdan Gugiuman, 44, denies four counts of rape and one of supplying a Class A drug in relation to one girl
Klaudio Aleksiu, 28, denies two counts of rape and supplying a Class A drug in relation to one girlKlaudio Aleksiu, 28, denies two counts of rape and supplying a Class A drug in relation to one girl
Stefan Ciuraru, 22, in relation to five girls, denies four counts of sexual assault, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and sexual activity with a childStefan Ciuraru, 22, in relation to five girls, denies four counts of sexual assault, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and sexual activity with a child
The trial continues.The trial continues.
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