Two young girls were groomed to become ‘sex slaves’ for a group of Asian men in Rochdale who preyed on their vulnerabilities, a court has heard. From the age of 13, the girls were expected to have sex with them ‘whenever and wherever’ they wanted, jurors at Manchester Minshull Street Court were told.
Image Credit: Metro [Rochdale Grooming Gang - Mohammed Zahid, from Rochdale, at Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, for the trial of eight men accused of grooming offences involving three teenage girls between 2000 and 2006.. - Pic Bruce Adams / Copy Dolan - 21/1/25]
Rossano Scamardella KC, prosecuting, said the eight men on trial were responsible for the rape and sexual exploitation of the two girls from 2001. He said: ‘Through no fault of their own, the troubled backgrounds of the girls made them susceptible to the advances of these men, and others who behaved just like them.
Image Credit: Metro [Rochdale Grooming Gang - Roheez Khan, from Rochdale, at Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, for the trial of eight men accused of grooming offences involving three teenage girls between 2000 and 2006.. - Pic Bruce Adams / Copy Dolan - 21/1/25]
‘Their treatment at the hands of these predators was appalling. ‘They were children passed around for sex, abused, degraded and then discarded. That it was the two of them that were exploited in this way was not by chance.’. They would also be driven around by men and picked up and dropped off at various flats and houses, said Mr Scamardella.
Image Credit: Metro [Mushtaq Ahmed arrives at Minshull Street Crown Court, in Manchester, on January 14, 2025 for the opening of the trial of eleven men accused of rape and sexual exploitation of three young girls between 2000 and 2006, in Rochdale. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP) (Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)]
The prosecutor went on: ‘These men preyed upon those vulnerabilities for their own perverted sexual gratification in the most humiliating and degrading way imaginable. ‘It would begin by making the girls feel like grown-ups as they were given alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, places to stay and people to be with.
Image Credit: Metro [Roheez Khan, from Rochdale, arrives at Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, for the trial of eight men for grooming offences involving three teenage girls in Rochdale between 2000 and 2006. Picture date: Tuesday January 14, 2025. PA Photo. The seven defendants who appeared in court on Tuesday all deny various sexual offences against the complainants. They are: Naheem Akram, Mohammed Shazad, Nisar Hussain, Mohammed Zahid, Roheez Khan, Arfan Khan and Mustaq Ahmed. An eighth defendant, Kasir Bashir did not appear in court. See PA story COURTS Grooming. Photo credit should read: Peter Byrne/PA Wire]
![[Rochdale Grooming Gang - Mohammed Zahid, from Rochdale, at Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, for the trial of eight men accused of grooming offences involving three teenage girls between 2000 and 2006.. - Pic Bruce Adams / Copy Dolan - 21/1/25]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_236948311-8812.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
![[Rochdale Grooming Gang - Roheez Khan, from Rochdale, at Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, for the trial of eight men accused of grooming offences involving three teenage girls between 2000 and 2006.. - Pic Bruce Adams / Copy Dolan - 21/1/25]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_236940562-caf0.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
![[Mushtaq Ahmed arrives at Minshull Street Crown Court, in Manchester, on January 14, 2025 for the opening of the trial of eleven men accused of rape and sexual exploitation of three young girls between 2000 and 2006, in Rochdale. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP) (Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_235980507-fe58.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
![[Roheez Khan, from Rochdale, arrives at Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, for the trial of eight men for grooming offences involving three teenage girls in Rochdale between 2000 and 2006. Picture date: Tuesday January 14, 2025. PA Photo. The seven defendants who appeared in court on Tuesday all deny various sexual offences against the complainants. They are: Naheem Akram, Mohammed Shazad, Nisar Hussain, Mohammed Zahid, Roheez Khan, Arfan Khan and Mustaq Ahmed. An eighth defendant, Kasir Bashir did not appear in court. See PA story COURTS Grooming. Photo credit should read: Peter Byrne/PA Wire]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_235947322-bbbb.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
