Girls, 13, repeatedly raped by 'predators' in Rochdale

A group of men subjected two young girls to "appalling" sexual exploitation over the course of several years in Greater Manchester, which saw them plied with alcohol and drugs and repeatedly raped, a court has heard.

- HOLLY EVANS

Both struggling with difficult upbringings, the girls were allegedly targeted by the group and became “beholden” to them, before being forced to carry out sex acts.

Jurors heard that the two girls had “deeply troubled home lives” and were known to the authorities, with poor school attendance and both regularly going missing from home.

As a result, the court was told the pair, aged just 13 at the time, would often hang around with older Asian men at various parks, a snooker hall or at Rochdale market, where they first encountered one of the defendants, Mohammed Zahid, 64, who operated a stall.

Known as Bossman, he had been in his forties when jurors were told he started to give the girls free underwear and money for food before introducing them to his friends.

“Through no fault of their own, their troubled backgrounds made them susceptible to the advances of these men, and others who behaved just like them,” prosecutor Rossano Scamardella KC said.