Girls treated as 'sex slaves' for years by 'predators' who raped and abused them, Rochdale trial told

Two teenage girls were treated as ‘sex slaves’ for years by ‘predators’ who raped and sexually abused them, a jury has been told. Eight men are on trial accused of sexual offences allegedly committed against the two girls - 'Girl A' and 'Girl B' - between 2001 and 2006 in Rochdale.

A jury at Minshull Street Crown Court was told the accused were mainly either taxi drivers or market stall traders in the town. The girls were ‘passed around’ for sex before being ‘discarded’, it is alleged.

Mohammed Zahid, 64; Kasir Bashir, 50; Mushtaq Ahmed, 66; Roheez Khan, 39; Mohammed Shahzad, 43; Nisar Hussain, 43; Naheem Akram, 48; and Arfan Khan, 40, deny all the charges they face.

Opening the case for the prosecution, Rossano Scamardella KC told the jury: “The men in the dock are responsible for the rape and sexual exploitation of two girls. The abuse of [Girl B] and [Girl A] began when each of them was just 13-years-old and they both suffered at the hands of these men for a little over three years.

“Both girls were vulnerable. They had deeply troubled home lives and were known to the authorities. Their school attendance was poor, they were often missing from home and their behaviour at times was difficult. [Girl B] had been in care since she was just seven-years-old, living in various care homes in the Rochdale area and [Girl A] lived with her mother but had no real home life to speak of.

“Through no fault of their own, their troubled backgrounds made them susceptible to the advances of these men, and others who behaved just like them. Their treatment at the hands of these predators was appalling. They were children passed around for sex; abused, degraded and then discarded and, that it was the two of them that were exploited in