Teenage girl 'repeatedly abused in Keighley by Asian males'

A vulnerable teenage schoolgirl who was exploited for sex by a group of Asian males was raped by five men on one occasion, a court has heard.

The girl, who was 14, was taken to a lane in Keighley, West Yorkshire, and forced to engage in sexual activity with the men, Bradford Crown Court heard.

The jury heard that the white girl was repeatedly raped by a number of men in encounters arranged by a violent drug dealer over a period of 13 months.

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 exploitation began after the girl told Arif Choudhury, who is not on trial, that she no longer wanted to deliver drugs for him.

Choudhury physically assaulted the girl and raped her in a churchyard before introducing her to other men for sexual encounters against her will, the jury was told.

The court heard Choudhury was present at most of the encounters at locations around Keighley and often used violence.

Michelle Colborne QC, prosecuting, said he took the girl to Dalton Lane where she was forced to have sex with five of the defendants: Nazir Khan, Saqib Younis, Hussain Sardar, Zain Ali and Faisal Khan.

She said: "The whole situation shocked and upset her."

Ms Colborne told the jury that offences involving Sufyan Ziarab, Yasser Kabir, Bilal Ziarab and Tauqeer Hussain took place in an underground car park in Keighley, where police found graffiti on a wall bearing the name of the girl and the names of the defendants. Scenes of crime officers also found semen matching the DNA of Tauqeer Hussain, the court heard.

The prosecution said the girl was forced to give oral sex to Rohail Iqbal and Rohail Hussain behind a container outside the Keighley Leisure Centre.

Israr Ali is also accused of forcing the girl to carry out oral sex on him in a park. A 17-year-old defendant is accused of raping the girl in another park in the town.

The court heard that taxi driver Mohammed Akram had sex with the girl after offering her a lift. She told police she did not recognise his name but said she had sex with men whose names she did not know, the jury heard.

Tauqeer Hussain is accused of raping a second teenage girl in 2009.

Ms Colborne said: "This trial centres around allegations of child abuse, in particular the exploitation of two teenage girls who were forced to behave sexually with men."

The prosecutor said the girl had a "chaotic existence" and was officially reported missing from home 71 times over a two-year-period.

The court heard she once reported being raped but later withdrew the allegation.

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."

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, Bilal Ziarab, 21, of Sedgwick Close, Manningham, 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, Rohail Hussain, 18, of Hawk Street, Lawkholme, and a 17-year-old youth all deny one count of rape.

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

The trial was adjourned until tomorrow.