Everybody knew what was going on, Rochdale grooming gang trial hears
A woman allegedly turned into a teenage 'sex slave' by a Rochdale grooming gang of Asian men told a jury 'everybody knew what was going on'.
And the witness said she was regarded as a 'prostitute' rather than a 13-year-old child when the alleged sexual abuse began, Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester heard.
'It always happened, it was nothing new to me,' she told the jury in her second day in the witness box.
'I assumed they all knew. The police had picked me up. It all just seemed to me everybody knew what was going on.'
The woman, identified only as girl B and another teenager, girl A, became 'sex slaves' to the gang of Asian men who preyed upon the vulnerable youngsters, the jury was told.
Neither complainant can be identified for legal reasons to protect their anonymity.
Girl B said when the abuse began she was living in a children's home and started to hang around Rochdale market, where Mohammed Zahid, then in his 40s, owned a stall.
Each week she was taken to the basement of a shop in Rochdale, Maria Fashions, owned by another man – Mushtaq Ahmed.
In the basement room below the shop, there was a bare mattress where she would have sex with market-stall holder Zahid, the shop owner Ahmed and a third man, Kasir Bashir.
Lisa Wilding KC, defending Zahid, asked girl B about social workers at the time raising concerns that she may have been having sex with Asian men.
Girl B said: 'They said I was a prostitute. I was prostituting myself.'
Ms Wilding said: 'Which must have been very upsetting. And a language that was used, then.'
'Vile,' replied the witness. 'I don't remember them being concerned enough to do anything about it.
'I remember knowing that they knew what was going on.
'It always happened, it was nothing new to me.
I assumed they all knew. The police had picked me up. It all just seemed to me everybody knew what was going on.
Girl B
'I assumed they all knew. The police had picked me up. It all just seemed to me everybody knew what was going on.'
Earlier, prosecutor Rossano Scamardella KC told jurors both girls were sexually abused because their troubled backgrounds made them susceptible.
'They were children passed around for sex, abused, degraded and then discarded,' Mr Scamardella said,
'They became sex slaves.'
Girl B was also asked why she had not reported the sexual abuse before she first contacted police in May, 2021.
She said: 'I felt like that was my purpose. I think it had happened that much.
'I never saw it as anything unnatural. I just felt like that was what I was there for.
'I normalised it so much in my own head.
'From the way I see things as a child to now, are two different things.
'There was no reason for me to think it was wrong when nobody did anything about it as a child.'
Eight men, either taxis drivers or connected to Rochdale market, are on trial and all deny multiple sexual offences including rape, indecent assault and indecency with a child between 2001 and 2006.
They are: Mohammed Zahid, 64, of Station Road, Crumpsall, Manchester; Naheem Akram, 48, of Manley Road, Rochdale; Mohammed Shazad, 43, of Beswicke Royds Street, Rochdale; Nisar Hussain, 43, of Newfield Close, Rochdale; Roheez Khan, 39, of Athole Street, Rochdale; Arfan Khan, 40, of Grouse Street, Rochdale; Mushtaq Ahmed, 66, of Corona Avenue, Oldham; and Kasir Bashir, 50, of Napier Street East, Oldham.
The trial continues.
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Seven men face ‘lengthy' sentences for sexual abuse of teenage girls in Rochdale
Seven members of an Asian grooming gang are facing 'lengthy' prison sentences after they were convicted of the sexual exploitation of two white teenage schoolgirls in Rochdale. Social services and police apologised for their past failings surrounding the victims who were abused in the town between 2001 and 2006 after a jury returned unanimous verdicts on Friday against the defendants. Both girls were treated as 'sex slaves' from the age of 13, said prosecutors, amid 'deeply troubled home lives' as they were given drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, places to stay and people to be with. Soon after, they were expected to have sex 'whenever and wherever' the defendants and other men wanted, in filthy flats, on rancid mattresses, in cars, car parks, alleyways and disused warehouses. Girl A told the jury at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court that she could have been targeted by more than 200 offenders as her phone number was swapped but said 'there was that many it was hard to keep count'. She told local children's services in 2004 that she was 'hanging around' with groups of older men, drinking and taking cannabis, the court heard. Giving evidence, Girl B said she was living in a local children's home when she was preyed on by market traders Mohammed Zahid, 64; Mushtaq Ahmed, 67; and Kasir Bashir, 50 – all born in Pakistan – who were stallholders on the town's indoor market. She said she presumed various agencies knew what was going on as police regularly picked her up after social workers labelled her a 'prostitute'. Girl B told the hearing she had since read her file held by Rochdale social services which, she said, stated she had been selling herself for sex from the age of 10. Following the verdicts, Sharon Hubber, Rochdale Borough Council's director of children's services, said: 'We know that these convictions are unlikely to erase the memories of the abuse these women were subjected to as children, but we hope they do bring some form of closure. 'We know that more could and should have been done by the people who were working here at the time, and for that we are truly sorry.' Detective Superintendent Alan Clitherow, of Greater Manchester Police, said: 'There was information at the time that police and other agencies could, and should, have done something with and we didn't. 'The way those victims were dealt with at the time is indefensible and inexcusable. 'We have made comprehensive apologies for that. We're not perfect but we are very much improving now on how we manage these investigations.' Assistant Chief Constable Steph Parker added: 'I know that our past failings have meant there are people who doubt the police's commitment today to putting grooming gangs behind bars where they belong. 'Let me be clear – time is no barrier to justice, and we are actively working with dozens of survivors on numerous investigations to ensure no offender gets away with this. When you are ready, we will listen. 'Our dedicated, child sexual exploitation, major investigations team has almost 100 investigators working every day to listen to victims and to bring cases to court.' Father-of-three Zahid – known as Boss Man – gave free underwear from his lingerie stall to both complainants and also money, alcohol and food in return for the expectation of regular sex with him and his friends. In 2016, Zahid was jailed for five years in an earlier grooming gang case after he engaged in sexual activity in 2006 with a 15-year-old girl whom he met when she visited his stall to buy tights for school. Bashir did not attend the current trial as jurors were ordered not to speculate why but it can be revealed that he absconded while on bail before the trial got under way. Police are actively seeking Bashir and say they are 'determined to find him no matter where he thinks he can hide'. It can also be reported that co-defendants Mohammed Shahzad, 44; Naheem Akram, 48; and Nisar Hussain, 41; were remanded in custody with their bail revoked in January before the jury was sworn in. Police received intelligence that the three Rochdale-born taxi drivers were planning to leave the UK and had already paid a deposit for their transport, the court heard. All three denied the accusation but Judge Jonathan Seely said the court was not prepared to take a risk that they, too, would abscond. A seventh defendant, Pakistani-born Roheez Khan, 39, also featured in another previous Rochdale grooming trial in 2013 when he was one of five men convicted of sexually exploiting a 'profoundly vulnerable' 15-year-old girl in 2008 and 2009. Khan was jailed for six and a half years for engaging in sexual activity with a child and witness intimidation. After three weeks of deliberations by the jury, Zahid, of, Station Road, Crumpsall, was convicted of raping Girl A and Girl B, who did not know each other, on multiple occasions. Jurors also found him guilty of offences of indecency with a child and procuring a child to have sex. Ahmed, of Corona Avenue, Oldham; and Bashir, of Napier Street East, Oldham; were convicted of multiple counts of rape and indecency with a child, in relation to Girl B. Shahzad, of Beswicke Royds Street, Rochdale; Akram, of Manley Road, Rochdale; and Hussain, of New Field Close, Rochdale; were convicted of multiple counts of rape against Girl A. Roheez Khan, of Athole Street, Rochdale, was found guilty of a single count of rape against Girl A. Judge Seely told the men they all faced 'lengthy' prison sentences as he remanded them in custody ahead of sentencing on a date to be fixed. All the perpetrators were prosecuted as part of Operation Lytton, an ongoing investigation since 2015 by Greater Manchester Police into historical child sexual exploitation in Rochdale.
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She told local children's services in 2004 that she was 'hanging around' with groups of older men, drinking and taking cannabis, the court heard. Giving evidence, Girl B said she was living in a local children's home when she was preyed on by market traders Mohammed Zahid, 64; Mushtaq Ahmed, 67; and Kasir Bashir, 50 – all born in Pakistan – who were stallholders on the town's indoor market. She said she presumed various agencies knew what was going on as police regularly picked her up after social workers labelled her a 'prostitute'. Girl B told the hearing she had since read her file held by Rochdale social services which, she said, stated she had been selling herself for sex from the age of 10. Following the verdicts, Sharon Hubber, Rochdale Borough Council's director of children's services, said: 'We know that these convictions are unlikely to erase the memories of the abuse these women were subjected to as children, but we hope they do bring some form of closure. 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Telegraph
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Seven Asian men have been convicted of the sexual exploitation of two white teenage schoolgirls in Rochdale. The abusers preyed on the vulnerabilities of the victims to groom them as 'sex slaves' from the age of 13 in the Greater Manchester town between 2001 and 2006. Both girls had 'deeply troubled home lives' and were given drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, places to stay and people to be with, Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court heard. Soon afterwards, they were expected to have sex 'whenever and wherever' the abusers and other men wanted, in filthy flats, on rancid mattresses, in cars, car parks, alleyways and disused warehouses. Jurors deliberated for three weeks before delivering unanimous guilty verdicts on Friday. Three of the abusers, Mohammed Zahid, 64, Mushtaq Ahmed, 67, and Kasir Bashir, 50 – all born in Pakistan – were stallholders at the town's indoor market. Opening the prosecution case in January, Rossano Scamardella KC said Rochdale had been 'blighted' by child sexual exploitation and that one of the two complainants, Girl A, was abused by many other Asian men. Girl A told the jury she could have been targeted by more than 200 offenders as her phone number was swapped but said 'there was that many it was hard to keep count'. The court heard that she told local children's services in 2004 that she was 'hanging around' with groups of older men, drinking and taking cannabis. Giving evidence, Girl B said she was living in a local children's home when she was preyed on by Zahid, Ahmed and Bashir. She said she presumed various agencies knew what was going on as police regularly picked her up after social workers labelled her a 'prostitute'. Girl B told the hearing she had since read her file held by Rochdale social services which she said stated she had been selling herself for sex from the age of 10. Both complainants denied claims from defence barristers that they fabricated the allegations to secure compensation. Father-of-three Zahid, known as Boss Man, gave free underwear from his lingerie stall to both complainants, and also money, alcohol and food in return for the expectation of regular sex with him and his friends. In 2016, Zahid was jailed for five years in an earlier grooming gang case after he engaged in sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl he met when she visited his stall to buy tights for school in 2006. Bashir did not attend the current trial, and jurors were ordered not to speculate why, but it can be revealed that he absconded while on bail before the trial got under way. It can also be reported that Mohammed Shahzad, 44, Naheem Akram, 48, and Nisar Hussain, 41, were remanded in custody with their bail revoked in January before the jury was sworn in. Police received intelligence that the three Rochdale-born taxi drivers were planning to leave the UK and had already paid a deposit for their transport, the court heard. All three denied the accusation, but Judge Jonathan Seely said the court was not prepared to take a risk that they too would abscond. A seventh defendant, Pakistani-born Roheez Khan, 39, also featured in another previous Rochdale grooming trial in 2013 when he was one of five men convicted of sexually exploiting a 'profoundly vulnerable' 15-year-old girl in 2008 and 2009. Khan was jailed for six and a half years for engaging in sexual activity with a child and witness intimidation. The convictions are the latest under Operation Lytton, the most recent in a series of major investigations either launched, aborted or relaunched by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) to deal with gangs acting 'in plain sight' decades earlier. Operation Augusta, an investigation into grooming in south Manchester by Asian men was launched in 2004-5 after the death of Victoria Agoglia, 15, on Sept 29 2003. She was in care but died after being injected with heroin by a man more than 30 years her senior, and had reported being raped. GMP identified 97 grooming suspects and 25 child victims, all under the care of Manchester city council, but at a joint police and council meeting in 2005, bosses decided to abruptly shut down the operation. Minutes from the meeting, taken by the police and the council, both disappeared. Two senior officers in the meeting were later promoted to chief constables, Parliament heard. More grooming gang offences in Rochdale were investigated in 2008, but the Crown Prosecution Service made the decision not to proceed to trial on the basis that it viewed the main victim as 'unreliable'. GMP later launched Operation Span, investigating offences between 2010 and 2012. It resulted in the conviction of nine men from Rochdale following a high-profile trial at Liverpool Crown Court ending in May 2012.
