Court Hears Teen Girl's Gang Rape Claim

A teenage girl told police she was being repeatedly raped by a group of men who plied her with alcohol and demanded sex, a court has heard.

The girl, who was 15 at the time, and who cannot be named, made the claims in a police interview in August 2008.

The interview was played to the jury in the trial of 11 men accused of sexually abusing five underage girls in Rochdale, Greater Manchester.

The court heard how police at that stage did not carry out any further investigations and the alleged abuse continued.

In the interview, the teenager claimed she became involved with the group in August 2008 when she was given free food and alcohol in the kitchen of a local takeaway.

The court heard how one of the defendants, a 59-year-old man who cannot be named, invited her "upstairs for a chat".

She said when she got into the room there was nothing but a bare mattress on the floor.

She told police: "I said, 'What do you want to talk about?' He said 'I bought you some vodka and I want you to have sex with me. It's part of the deal. I buy you things, you give me things'."

"I was scared. I didn't want to do anything. I felt disgusted," she said.

She then alleges she was raped. On another occasion she claimed to have been driven to a flat in nearby Oldham by the same man.

She claimed the man demanded sex and afterwards forced her to have sex with his nephew "as a treat" for him.

At first she said she refused. "He started kissing me, I said 'Leave me alone'. He said, 'You have to have sex with me or I'm not taking you home'.

"I said 'I'm only 15', and he said 'Doesn't matter'. He said where he comes from he can have sex with girls from the age of 11."

Five girls, who were aged between 13 and 15 when the alleged abuse began, were passed around by the men "who acted together to sexually exploit the girls", Liverpool Crown Court heard.

The jury was told some of the defendants paid the girls and took payments from other men to whom they supplied the girls for sex.

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) are on trial charged with conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children under the age of 16.

They have all pleaded not guilty along with a 59-year-old man who cannot be named for legal reasons.

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.

Hassan, of Oldham, and Shahzad, of Rochdale, also deny rape.

Aziz, also of Rochdale, denies two counts of rape and one allegation of trafficking for sexual exploitation.

Khan and Rauf, both of Rochdale, have also pleaded not guilty to trafficking for sexual exploitation.

Sajid, of Rochdale, denies trafficking, two counts of rape and one allegation of sexual activity with a child. Amin, also of Rochdale, denies sexual assault.

Shah and Safi, both of Rochdale, each denied two counts of rape and Safi has also pleaded not guilty to trafficking.

Aziz, Khan, Safi and the 59-year-old are remanded in custody. Qayyum, of Rochdale, and the rest of the defendants are on bail. The trial continues.