reSee.it Video Transcript AI Summary
Six defendants in this case, but just five appeared in the talk this morning as the prosecutor, mister Rosano Scarmadella Casey, set out the Crown's case against those six men, and we were told that three girls in Rochdale were subjected to sexual assaults and rape by the men who were said to have had an unhealthy interest in sex with children. Now two of the girls, known in the court as girl a and girl c, knew each other and were abused from the two thousands by multiple men. The other complainant in this case, girl b, did not know the others and was targeted from the late nineteen eighties. Now, these these six defendants had one man known as a ringleader Tahir Rashid, and at the opening, we were told that he was said to have bought that 12 year old girl, girl b, presents and give her money.
He said that this was not, however, the generosity from the goodness of his heart, said mister Scarmadella, but actually, he was interested in sexually attacking that girl. The jury heard that that 12 year old was given an STD after Rashid took her to various flats and forced himself on her. Now girl a and girl c were then approached as friends in the two thousands, and mister Scarmadella said the girls were children passed around for sex. He said that they were abused, degraded, and then discarded, and this was, that the two of them were exploited in this way was not by chance. The girls were, said to have encountered the men in parks and woods at the snooker hall in Rochdale and also at the markets in the town.
They would be driven around by these men, we were told, picked up and dropped off at various flats and houses, but they were desperate for stability, desperate for a sense of belonging, and that the defendants, the jury heard, were only too aware of their tender ages. Now mister Scarmadella Casey alleged that it was obvious that they craved the attention that their home lives and families did not provide, which made them easy for older men to exploit. The two girls, girl a and z, were said to have been forced to have sexual encounters with multiple men whenever and wherever the men wanted it. The girls were also lied up to about it being forbidden for Muslims to use sexual protection and contraception. The court also heard about concerns shared by one of the girls' mothers, and that even though social services had been contacted on countless occasions, they were of the view that little if anything could be done.
Girl c was said to regularly go missing from home with missus Garmondella telling the court that it was known to social services that she was being exploited. Now missus Garmondella said it seems that although girl c did not understand that she was the victim of child sexual exploitation, social services did. But sadly, he said, nothing was done about it by anyone. Now, of the six defendants facing these charges, Tasir Rashid, age 54, he faces 12 counts of rape, three counts of indecent assault, one count of assault by penetration. Mohamed Salim, age 46, faces eight counts of rape.
Sukhlain Shah, 46, faces two counts of rape. Arshad Muhammad, 53, faces five counts of rape. Iftak Hussein, 45, he faces three counts of rape. And Amjad Mahmoud, 55, faces 12 counts of rape. Two counts of indecency with a child, one count of indecent assault, and two counts of assault by penetration.
The men deny all charges, and the trial continues.