Drink and drugs played “significant part” in woman's life when "raped" by three men in Rotherham, court hears
“A significant part of her daily life was drink and drugs. She was in a state of confusion or drowsiness, smoking three cannabis cigarettes a day”
Drink and drugs played a “significant part” in the daily life of a woman alleged to have been raped 15 times by three Asian men in Rotherham, a court heard.
The complainant - now aged in her 30s - was aged 13 to 14 when she was allegedly driven to various locations by Mudasar Hussain, his brother Ghazanfar Hussain and Khamir Khan and raped between 2008 and 2010.
All the men deny rape charges.
Drug dealer Mudasar Hussain, now aged, 36, was said to have met the young girl when she was 13 and he was 19 - “plying” her with cannabis and alcohol before raping her at a dilapidated terrace, a birdwatching house and in his car.
His brother Ghazanfar Hussain, now aged 40, was said to have driven her to a mechanic garage in Tinsley in April 2009 where he forced her to commit a sex act in a vehicle inspection pit.
She was said to have met Khamir Khan, now 36, at his family-owned takeaway when she was aged 14. The sex began with him around two weeks after they first met and lasted for around seven months, said prosecutor Matthew Cobbe.
Khan would offer the teen, who cannot be identified, up for sex with other males as a “favour” - on one occasion leaving her with an older male in a house who went on to rape her, the court heard.
Raising doubts regarding Ghazanfar’s identification, his barrister Zacharias Miah described how the complainant’s statements were made to police 11 and 17 years after the events.
Mr Miah said: “Any witness can be mistaken when identifying a defendant - you must examine all the circumstances of the identification carefully.
“She had never seen him before and never saw him again - this was a single event from 17 years ago in October 2026 (the date of her final police interview).”
Posing questions about the reliability of her account, the barrister said: “A significant part of her daily life was drink and drugs. She was in a state of confusion or drowsiness, smoking three cannabis cigarettes a day.
“All these factors you may wish to consider - her chaotic lifestyle is an important factor when considering Ghazanfar Hussain in this case.”
The complainant had, the court heard, described Ghazanfar as having a “gold tooth” - which had been proven “wrong”.
Also, in her account of the drive to the garage where the rape was said to have happened, she omitted glasses from her description - which Ghazanfar always used to drive at that time due to a degenerative eye condition.
Eddie Steele, defending Khamir Khan, said his client was identified by the complainant when she saw his photo in a newspaper article “10 years” later when he was jailed for a sex offence.
He said: “The article on November 25, 2020 is important - it’s that image which locks Khamir Khan into her mind. She Does not recall what the man identifying himself as Khamir Khan all those years ago looks like.
“She had over-ridden her long-term memory of what that offender looks like and replaced it with the image she sees in the article.
“The police (NCA) accepted they told (the complainant) “you’ve got the right guy”. How do they know? it’s classic confirmation bias.”
In her statement the complainant also described Khan’s car as a black Toyota Starlet however testifying police had confirmed that at the time Khan had reported damage to a “white or silver” car, not a black one.
Summing up the evidence in the case for jurors, when referencing Mudasar Hussain, Judge Sarah Wright said the defence "don't dispute sexual activity took place regularly” and they “don't challenge” the complainant over “the number of sexual encounters that occurred".
She said the defence say that "this was an equal relationship between Mudasar and (the complainant)" and that the woman has "a tendency to rewrite history" in her adult life.
Judge Wright added: "They submit she readily consented and despite her age and vulnerability that she had the freedom and capacity to consent.”
When the trial started earlier this month jurors heard the teenage girl was eventually moved away from Rotherham by social services, which is when the abuse stopped and she identified all three later in a police line-up.
All three men were arrested as part of Operation Stovewood, a National Crime Agency investigation into child sexual exploitation in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013.
Opening the case Matthew Cobbe said: “It’s the prosecution case that Mudasar Hussain and Khamir Khan recognised vulnerability in (the victim) and were quick to groom, manipulate and exploit her.
“The events took place in Rotherham between 15 and 20 years ago. (The girl) was 13 to 14 when she met and was manipulated by Mudasar Hussain. She was 14 when she met Khamir Khan . Her life was chaotic at the time.
“The prosecution case is she was easy prey for Mudasar Hussain and Khamir Khan.”
Mr Cobbe said Ghazanfar did not manipulate the complainant “in the same way” but he “took advantage of her when the opportunity presented itself”.
Khan, 36, of no fixed abode, denies two counts of rape and one count of trafficking of a person in the UK for sexual exploitation.
Mudasser Hussain, 36, of Henley Grove Road, Rotherham, denies 12 counts of rape.
Ghazanfar Hussain, 40, of Rosebery Street, Rotherham, denies one count of rape.
The trial continues.