Girl, 18, 'treated like rag doll' by grooming gang members

An 18-year old 'was treated like a rag doll as she was raped by a laughing pair' who are also accused of a sex attack on a 15-year-old girl, a court has heard. Zahid Hassan, 32, is accused of raping the 18-year-old from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, in 2006 with another man who went by the nickname Fred. 

Leeds Crown Court heard that, a few years later, the pair began abusing a 15-year-old girl after her number was passed to them by other men who had also assaulted her.

Hassan, also known as Manny, pleaded not guilty to five charges - four counts of rape and one count of attempted rape - in relation to the two complainants.

Fred, who is not on trial, was described in court as a 'charming and good-looking organiser' who would strike up relationships with girls. 

Hassan, formerly of Huddersfield, is on trial alongside two others - Saqib Raheel and Sholan James.

Raheel, 34, of Cradley Heath, West Midlands, denies rape of an underage girl and sexual assault of an underage girl in relation to the second complainant.

James, 30, of Sheepridge, Huddersfield, denies assault of an underage girl by penetration in relation to the second complainant.

Kate Batty, prosecuting, told jurors the first complainant had been getting to know Fred when he invited her to 'chill' in a flat in a high-rise block.

She said Hassan went too and the trio drank vodka together before her and Fred were left alone.

While they were alone, Fred topped up her drink 'again and again and again' until she was too drunk to stand up, the trial heard.

Ms Batty said: 'And then, Manny [Hassan] reappeared. Together Fred and Manny carried her to a bed. They undressed her.

'She was so drunk she had no control over her body. She couldn't say anything, she couldn't do anything. She felt like a rag doll as Fred and Manny moved her around the bed into different positions.' 

She added: 'Even when she cried out in pain, they laughed. Once they had finished with her, they left her lying on the bed. 

'They left the flat, still laughing about what they had done.'

Ms Batty said Hassan was being physically 'harsh' and the complainant was left injured. The jury was told the second complainant was aged 15 and new to town when she was first abused.

The prosecutor said Raheel and two of his friends saw her at Huddersfield bus station one night before asking her: 'What's a pretty young thing like you doing alone this time of night?'

She said the girl was invited to a party at James' flat the following night and she went with a friend.

The prosecution say she was drugged before passing out and later waking up naked in front of three men in a room.

Raheel was insulting her body and telling James what to do while James was performing a sex act on her, the court was told.

Ms Batty said the girl fled the house but Raheel convinced her to come back in before raping her while she was unconscious again, adding: 'She told him to stop it and get off but he carried on.

'After that event, she saw the men again and they made her believe she'd enjoyed it. That was confusing for her. She was also told that if she didn't do what she was told, there would be consequences.'

The court was told that the child's phone number was passed around to men who phoned her for sexual activity, including in time Fred and Hassan.

The girl described herself as a 'wreck' by that point and the court was told Fred 'charmed' her by making her feel as though they were in a relationship.

Ms Batty said Fred once slapped her so hard that she went to the ground, so she did not feel able to stand up for herself when he told her: 'You've got to look after my boys.'

She said the second complainant performed a sex act on Hassan on two separate occasions while Fred watched on, having told her what to do.

Ms Batty said: 'On that second occasion, Manny also got into bed with her at some point and tried to have sex with her but she managed to push him off.

'He wasn't happy with that and threatened to break her nose the next day.'

Ms Batty added that the complainants were treated as 'objects' by the defendants.