Asian men groomedschoolgirls for sex,court told

A GROUP of young Asian men preyed on teenage girls as young as 13, plying them with drink, and making them take part in sex acts, a court has heard.

The eight men from Rotherham allegedly committed a number of sexual offences on four girls, three of whom were just 13, with the other aged 16.

The attacks, which included a series of rapes, were all said to have taken place in the Rotherham area – in a local park, and on other occasions on the back seat of cars, in toilets and in a bedroom.

Threats were also made to the teenagers who were sometimes given alcohol to make them more compliant with the sexual demands during 2008, Sheffield Crown Court heard yesterday.

The jury was told Umar Razaq, 24, tried to pull off a 13-year-old girl’s clothes, and when she resisted he pulled her hair and called her a “white bitch”.

Her cousin, then aged 16, was taken to a friend’s house by Razaq and plied with vodka and cider. Prosecutor Sarah Wright said: “He then raped her on the bed. At the end, he told her that she deserved it.”

The court was told Umar introduced the 13-year-old girl to his brother Razwan Razaq, 30, who had sex with her in his car. Afterwards he was said to have told her: “I’ve used you and abused you.”

The jury heard Razwan then met another 13-year-old girl who told him she was 12, but they still had sex in the back of his car at his suggestion.

Zafran Ramzan, a cousin of the Razaqs, was introduced to the first 13-year-old girl, the court heard, and they had sex at a Rotherham park several times, and once after she had had sex with another defendant Adil Hussain, 20.

Ms Wright said the 16-year-old girl knew 21-year-old Ramzan from school. They began sleeping together when she was 16.

“She really liked him but then he began to get violent towards her when they were having sex," she told the jury, and he forced her into sex on “many occasions”.

Ramzan is also alleged to have forced a third 13-year-old girl to commit a sex act on him in the park. When arrested and asked by police what age he was attracted to, he replied: “As long as they’re not too young and they’re legal, that’s it.”

Razwan Razaq introduced another defendant, Shalzaad Hussain, 22, to the first 13-year-old girl. She regarded him as her boyfriend although she was also having sex with Ramzan and his friend Adil Hussain, 20, the jury was told.

Shalzaad Hussain plied his victim with vodka to make her more compliant. The same girl was forced into sex acts with Adil Hussain, Ms Wright told the court.

The prosecutor said the second 13-year-old girl knew defendant Saeed Hussain, 29, from visiting his takeaway. She said Hussain made her have sex and “threatened to kill her if she didn’t do it”.

The two girl cousins were first approached by the final two defendants, Mohsin Khan, 21, and Shazad Aklbar, 22, who are best friends, after they pulled up in their car.

Although the younger girl told them she was only 13, they got into the car, where the youngest had sex with Khan, the prosecutor said.

The court heard a few days later, the 16-year-old met the two men while on her own and they gave her beer and cider, making her drunk.

They then took her to a house in Rotherham where, Ms Wright told the jury, Akbar pulled her trousers down in a bedroom and raped her as she tried unsuccessfully to fight them off.

Ramzan, Khan and Akbar all told police the 16-year-old consented to the sexual activity. Khan and Akbar both deny four joint charges of rape. Zafran Ramzan denies three rape charges and Umar Razaq one charge of rape.

Umar Razaq, Razwan Razaq, Ramzan, Shalzaad Hussain, Adil Hussain and Khan all deny charges of inciting sexual activity with under-age girls.

All the defendants are from Rotherham except Akbar who lives in Sheffield.

The trial is expected to last six weeks.