Trial of nine men accused of raping Sheffield teenager used 'like a piece of meat' continues

Nine men went on trial in Sheffield yesterday accused of raping a teenager, who is now in her 20s.

Prosecutors said she was ‘nothing more than an object’ to the men who were ‘able to use and abuse her sexually for their own sexual gratification’.

The complainant first told police about being raped and used for under-age sex in 2011, Sheffield Crown Court heard, but no investigation was carried out or crime recorded.

Peter Hampton, prosecuting, said: "When (the complainant) did speak to those in authority, she found that no effective action was taken to stop it."

Opening the case for the prosecution, Mr Hampton said: "To these men she was nothing more than an object.

"They were able to use and abuse her sexually for their own sexual gratification."

Mr Hampton said the teenager was treated ‘like a piece of meat’.

He said: "These acts occurred whilst (the complainant) was drunk or high on drugs which had been supplied to her by the defendants.

"On other occasions (the complainant) was forcibly raped."

Mr Hampton said the girl was between 15 and 17 years old when the alleged offences happened in Sheffield between 2010 and 2012.

He said she had been referred to social services at the age of six and placed on the child protection register at nine.

The prosecutor said the girl's life ‘descended into chaos’.

Mr Hampton said: "By the time (the complainant) fell into the clutches of these defendants and others who abused and exploited her, she was already broken."

He said: "She may as well have had a target on her back as far as those who were criminally minded were concerned."

The prosecutor said the complainant was ‘effectively and efficiently groomed’ by a 19-year-old woman called Amanda Spencer, who knew many men in the Kurdish community in Sheffield and introduced her to some of the defendants who would go on to rape her.

He said eight of the defendants were Kurdish.

Mr Hampton told the jury that the girl first disclosed some of what had happened to her when she was interviewed by officers in 2011, aged 15.

He said she was then ‘still in the grip of exploitation’ by Miss Spencer and some of the defendants.

The prosecutor said she distrusted the authorities and this situation was not helped when South Yorkshire Police ‘did nothing more than submit an intelligence report’.

He said this was ‘despite the fact that (the complainant) had disclosed one rape and other incident of sex with adult men as a minor’.

"No crime was recorded by the force and no investigation, in reality, followed," he added.

Mr Hampton said police had further contact with the teenager and, in 2016, interviews with her began which resulted in the current trial.

Usman Din, 35, of Seaton Crescent, Manor, Sheffield, denies three counts of rape and one count of trafficking.

Tony Juone, 61, of Pitt Lane, Sheffield city centre, denies one count of rape.

Kamaran Mahmoodi, 39, of Walkley Road, Walkley, Sheffield, denies one count of rape.

Shangar Ibrahimi, 30, of Cemetery Road, Barnsley, denies one count of rape.

Farhad Mirzaie, 29, of Ironside Road, Gleadless Valley, Sheffield, denies two counts of rape.

Kawan Omar Ahmed, 31, of Margate Drive, Grimesthorpe, Sheffield, denies two counts of rape.

Saman Mohammed, 41, of Fox Street, Burngreave, Sheffield, denies one count of rape.

Jasim Sammad Mohammed, 37, of Maxwell Way, Burngreave, Sheffield, denies three counts of rape.

Nzar Anwar, 40, of Exeter Drive, Broomhall, Sheffield, denies one count of rape and one count of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

A 10th defendant, Saba Moussa Mohammad, 41, of Faranden Road, Darnall, Sheffield, denies a single count of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

The case continues.