Rotherham ‘sex abuse’ defendants ‘willingly engaged in exploitative behaviour’

Teenage girls in Rotherham were “targeted, sexualised and in some instances subjected to acts of a degrading and violent nature”, a jury has been told.
Sajid Bostan.Sajid Bostan.
Sajid Bostan.

Five men and two women have gone on trial accused of roles in the sexual exploitation of children in the South Yorkshire town over a period of more than 10 years.

Opening the case for the prosecution, Michelle Colborne QC told Sheffield Crown Court: “It is alleged that in differing ways they facilitated the sexual abuse of teenage girls.

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“You will hear evidence from 12 women who were targeted, sexualised and in some instances subjected to acts of a degrading and violent nature.”

Ms Colborne said one defendant, Arshid Hussain, 40, - known as Mad Ash - played a key role.

She said: “He was domineering and, in some instances, brutal in his treatment of girls.

“He used them for his own gratification, then often prostituted them or passed them on to his brothers or associates of his.

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“He was assisted in differing ways by the other defendants, each willingly engaged in exploitative behaviour and using the girls to their own ends.”

Arshid Hussain, 40, Qurban Ali, 53; Majid Bostan, 37; Sajid Bostan, 38; Basharat Hussain, 39; Karen MacGregor, 58; and Shelley Davies, 40, all deny a total of 63 charges between them.

ROTHERHAM CHILD SEX TRIAL: THE CHARGES IN FULL

Five men and two women have gone on trial at Sheffield Crown Court facing a number of charges in relation to alleged child sexual exploitation in Rotherham.

The full list of charges is:

Arshid Hussain, 40, of High Street, East Cowick, Goole, denies one count of conspiracy to rape, 11 indecent assaults, five rapes, one other serious sexual assault, one count of procuring a girl under 21 to have unlawful sex with another, one count of false imprisonment, two counts of procuring a woman under 21 to become a common prostitute, one count of attempting to procure a girl under 21 to have unlawful sexual intercourse, two counts of abducting a 15-year-old girl, one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, two counts of aiding and abetting rape and one of aiding and abetting another serious sexual assault.

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Qurban Ali, 53, of Clough Road, Masborough, Rotherham, denies one count each of indecent assault, rape, procuring a girl under 21 to have unlawful sexual intercourse with another and conspiracy to rape.

Majid Bostan, 37, of Ledsham Road, Broom, Rotherham, denies one indecent assault.

Sajid Bostan, 38, of Broom Avenue, Broom, Rotherham, denies three rapes, two counts of aiding and abetting rape, one indecent assault and one other serious sexual assault.

Basharat Hussain, 39, of no fixed abode, denies one rape, five indecent assaults, one count of procuring a girl under 21 to have unlawful sexual intercourse with another, false imprisonment, three counts of indecency with a child, one count of procuring a woman under 21 to become a common prostitute, two assaults occasioning actual bodily harm and one count of making threats to kill.

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Karen MacGregor, 58, of Barnsley Road, Wath, South Yorkshire, and Rotherham, denies one count of conspiracy to procure a woman under 21 to become a common prostitute, false imprisonment and and two counts of conspiracy to rape.

Shelley Davies, 40, of Wainwright Road, Kimberworth Park, Rotherham, denies one count of conspiracy to procure a woman under 21 to become a common prostitute, false imprisonment and conspiracy to rape.