Alleged Rochdale predators ‘abused, degraded and discarded’ girls, 13, jury told
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Court hears eight older men coerced two girls with ‘deeply troubled’ home lives into sex in exchange for alcohol and attention. Eight alleged predators accused of the rape and sexual exploitation of two 13-year-old girls in Rochdale “abused, degraded and discarded” them in an “appalling” way, a jury has heard.
The complainants from the age of 13 were expected to have sex with the defendants and others “whenever and wherever the men wanted” from 2001-6, jurors at Manchester Minshull Street court were told. Rossano Scamardella KC, prosecuting, said the defendants were all older Asian men. He said the girls who were vulnerable with “deeply troubled” home lives “became sex slaves”.
“Their treatment at the hands of these predators was appalling.”. Both girls were known to the authorities, Scamardella said. “Their school attendance was poor, they were often missing from home, and their behaviour at times was difficult.”. The jury heard that it was not by chance that the girls were chosen. “The defendants were only too aware of their tender ages and the difficulties they were experiencing with day-to-day life. It was obvious that they craved the attention that their home lives and families did not provide, which made them easy prey for older men to exploit.”.
He continued: “These men preyed upon those vulnerabilities for their own perverted sexual gratification in the most humiliating and degrading way imaginable.”. The court heard that the girls hung around with groups of Asian men at a number of locations, including parks, woods, Rochdale market and a snooker hall. They were driven about and dropped off at houses and flats by the men, the court heard.
