The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
GANG RAPED GIRLS, JURY HEARS
Men accused of grooming vulnerable teenagers
Five Peterborough men were part of a sex ring which groomed vulnerable teenage girls before plying them with drink and then raping them, a jury has heard. The accused men deny all charges put to them.
APeterborough gang groomed young girls through Face-book before plying them with drink and raping them, a court has heard.
Yasir Ali (28), Daaim Ashraf, (19), Akash Yashin, (18), Mohammed Aslam, (24), and James Daly, (25), were involved in a sex ring spanning five years, a jury at Cambridge Crown Court heard.
After messaging their eight female victims, who were between 13 and 16 at the time, over social media, ring leader Ali along with Ashraf began grooming them.
The young white girls, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were encouraged to meet up with the men - four of whom are Pakistani - and were plied with alcohol, the jury were told.
They were driven round Peterborough by Ali - who used the nicknames ‘Mr Nice’ and ‘Sketcher Pidox’ on Facebook.
They would then meet up again and would go to a secluded location in cars.
Ali, Ashraf and Yashin are also alleged to have taken two of the girls to the Days Inn Motel at the Haddon services, where it is said Ali filmed the other two men abusing the girls.
Opening the case on Monday, Patricia Lynch, prosecuting, said Ali was “undoubtedly the primary offender”.
She said: “The allegations on this indictment reflect the sexual exploitation of young white girls by a group of older Asian men.
“The Crown say that Ali singled out and selected those girls because of their vulnerability. And not just by virtue of age but vulnerability by their very difficult backgrounds.
“Messages were exchanged through Facebook, BBM and by texts on mobile phones.
“The girls were flattered and complimented and if I use the colloquial term, chatted up.
“The girls would be driven from their home towns and villages and taken to Peterborough where they would be plied with alcohol en route and taken to secluded spots.
“The messages by the main two defendants became increasingly sexual. This resulted in the girls beginning to really like the defendants they were having contact with.
“The g ro oming worked and the girls in fact began to love the defendants they were contacting, thinking it was a real relationship.
“They found being driven round in flash cars, driving around Peterborough and being taken to hotels, they found that attractive.”
The offences allegedly took place in 2008 and 2013 - with one in 2010.
Supermarket worker Ali, of Grange Road, is charged with six counts of rape, two counts of making indecent photographs of a child, one count of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child and one count of intimidation.
Ashraf, of Almoners Lane, who is a student, is charged with one count of sexual assault, three counts of rape, one count of sexual activity with a child, one count of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child and one count of intimidation.
Ashraf and Ali are also jointly charged with seven counts of trafficking for sexual exploitation relating to six of the girls and Yashin is jointly charged for two of those offences.
Yashin, of Gladstone Street, who is a student, is also charged with one count of sexual assault.
Aslam, of Grange Road, who is unemployed, is charged with one count of rape and one count of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child and unemployed Daly, of Grange Road, is charged with one count of rape in 2008.
All five of the defendants deny all counts.