Teenager 'used for sex by group of Asian males in Keighley'

A teenage girl was exploited and used for sex by a group of Asian males, a court has heard.

Drug dealer Arif Choudhury arranged sexual encounters in Keighley, West Yorkshire, between the girl, who was aged 13 and 14 at the time, and the group of men and boys, Bradford Crown Court was told.

Thirteen men and a 17-year-old youth went on trial today charged with a total of 28 sexual offences between them.

The court heard that the girl, who was vulnerable and lived a "chaotic existence", was first raped by Choudhury in May 2011 after she told him she wanted to stop delivering drugs.

He physically assaulted her and took her to a churchyard, where he raped her, the court was told.

Michelle Colborne QC, prosecuting, said Choudhury then began exploiting the girl by introducing her to other men, who had sex with her and made her give them oral sex.

She told the jury: "The prosecution say he (Choudhury) was the reason why (the girl) came to be exploited and used by these men."

Ms Colborne continued: "He introduced her to a number of these men. Some were equally nasty in their treatment of her. One or two seemed to be ashamed after the event, but used her nevertheless."

She added: "At times she said 'no', at times she struggled, and at times she gave in without saying anything at all. At no times was she consenting to the act.

"The prosecution say they knew she didn't want that, whether she fought them off or not."

Ms Colborne told the jury that many of the offences took place in an underground car park in Keighley.

Police found graffiti on a wall bearing the name of the girl and the names of some of the defendants and scenes of crime officers also found semen matching the DNA of one defendant.

Ms Colborne described how the girl began truanting from school and staying out at night when she was around 12 years of age and was officially reported missing from home 71 times over a two-year-period.

The court heard that police became involved and asked her if she had been spending time with Asian men, which she denied.

At one point she reported being raped but later withdrew the allegation, the jury was told.

Ms Colborne said: "This was not a happy child and that's because she was desperate to belong.

"She was being exploited and was out of her depth but was too naive to do anything about it."

The court heard that one of the defendants is accused of raping a second teenage girl.

Yasser Kabir, 25, of Belgrave Road, Keighley, denies four counts of rape; Nazir Khan, 23, of Buxton Street, Keighley, and Tauqeer Hussain, 23, of Belgrave Road, Keighley, deny three counts of rape; Israr Ali, 19, of Devonshire Street West, Keighley, Hussain Sardar, 19, of Bradford Street, Lawkholme, Keighley, Saqib Younis, 29, of Bradford Street, Lawkholme, Keighley, Bilal Ziarab, 21, of Sedgwick Close, Manningham, Bradford, Sufyan Ziarab, 22, of Kendal Mellor Court, Keighley, Zain Ali, 20, of Buxton Street, Keighley, and Faisal Khan, 27, of Buxton Street, Keighley, all deny two charges of rape; Rohail Iqbal, 22, of Skipton Road, Beechcliffe, Keighley, Rohail Hussain, 18, of Hawk Street, Lawkholme, Keighley, and a 17-year-old youth all deny one count of rape.

Mohammed Akram, 62, of Holker Street, Keighley, denies one charge of sexual activity with a child under 16.