Rotherham sex abuse trial: Victims ‘were taken to Sheffield to be sold for sex’

Alleged victims of a Rotherham grooming ring were brought to Sheffield to have sex with men in flats, alleyways and cars, a court heard.
Sheffield city skylineSheffield city skyline
Sheffield city skyline

Details of how vulnerable girls were allegedly taken to the city to be sold for sex were revealed at Sheffield Crown Court yesterday.

Prosecutor Michelle Colborne QC outlined a series of alleged incidents in the opening of the trial of five men and two women accused of roles in the sexual exploitation of children in Rotherham over a period of more than 10 years and involving 12 complainants.

Karen MacGregor, accused of being part of a Rotherham grooming ringKaren MacGregor, accused of being part of a Rotherham grooming ring
Karen MacGregor, accused of being part of a Rotherham grooming ring
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She told a jury that one woman has alleged she was made to work as a teenage prostitute in Sheffield by Arshid Hussain and Basharat Hussain – two brothers known as ‘Mad Ash and Bash’.

The complainant said the pair were also involved with drugs and guns and ‘owned Rotherham’.

Ms Colborne said: “They would take her to Sheffield and park the car outside the flat and beep the horn.

“Her sister was also taken and they would both be forced to have sex with men for money. This would take place in alleyways or cars. Ash and Bash would follow them and ensure they handed over the money.”

Majid Bostan arrives at Sheffield Crown Court on December 9 2015.Majid Bostan arrives at Sheffield Crown Court on December 9 2015.
Majid Bostan arrives at Sheffield Crown Court on December 9 2015.

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The jury was told another complainant alleges Basharat Hussain took her to a flat in Sheffield where she was made to perform sex acts on other men – something said to have happened ‘approximately eight times over a two-and-a-half year period.’

Shelley Davies, 40, (blue hooded top) arrives at Sheffield Crown court today December 9 2015.Shelley Davies, 40, (blue hooded top) arrives at Sheffield Crown court today December 9 2015.
Shelley Davies, 40, (blue hooded top) arrives at Sheffield Crown court today December 9 2015.

It is alleged that on one occasion, the two Hussain brothers tied her hands behind her back and blindfolded her while the assaults took place.

Another complainant has alleged when she was 13 or 14 Arshid Hussain took her and two other girls to a flat in Sheffield where there were a ‘large number of Asian males’ present.

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The court heard that after Arshid Hussain took her to a bedroom and had sex with her, a group of ‘much older’ men ‘ran into the room and made attempts at engaging sexually with her’.

Ms Colborne said: “She called Arshid to help but he stood and laughed at her. She ran naked from the room to tell her sister, who was with a man in another room.”

Qurban Ali, 53, arrives at Sheffield Crown Court on December 9 2015.Qurban Ali, 53, arrives at Sheffield Crown Court on December 9 2015.
Qurban Ali, 53, arrives at Sheffield Crown Court on December 9 2015.

She added that a further woman has alleged that when she was under 16 defendant Qurban Ali ‘took her to a house in Sheffield where she was forced to have sex with a man in his 30s’.

The same complainant was allegedly locked in the Rawmarsh house of defendant Karen MacGregor for weeks as she was forced to have sex with a succession of Asian men.

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Prior to meeting MacGregor and co-defendant Shelley Davies, the complainant had been living in a number of local children’s homes.

Ms Colborne said she was subjected to regular sex attacks by Arshid Hussain when she was in the care of the local authority.

She said: “His exploitation of (her) was violent and protracted.

“Initially she attempted to say no but was always beaten if she refused and quickly learned to give in to his demands.”

Sajid Bostan leaving Rotherham Magistrates Court earlier this yearSajid Bostan leaving Rotherham Magistrates Court earlier this year
Sajid Bostan leaving Rotherham Magistrates Court earlier this year
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Ms Colborne said: “He passed her to his brother and friends and, over time, gave her as a payment to men for debts he owed.

“She was beaten, had a cigarette stubbed out on her chest, she was tied up, she was raped from a very young age, often by numerous men, one after the other, at the say-so of Arshid Hussain.”

She told the court: “Her recollection is that the violence became a regular thing when she lived at the children’s home and seemingly no-one was interested in whether she returned in a bloodied state.”

The prosecutor said the girl told children’s home staff what was happening but they accused her of ‘covering up for running away’.

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Turning to another of the alleged victims, Ms Colborne said Basharat Hussain picked this girl up from a children’s home when she was 12.

She said a staff member said it was okay to take her and bring her back by 11pm.

Despite telling Basharat Hussain her age and that she was a virgin, she was forced to have oral sex with him and other men in a car, the prosecutor said.

Ms Colborne said 12 women will tell the jury they were ‘targeted, sexualised and in some instances subjected to acts of a degrading and violent nature’.

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Arshid Hussain, 40, Qurban Ali, 53, Majid Bostan, 37, Sajid Bostan, 38, Basharat Hussain, 39, Karen MacGregor, 58, and Shelley Davies, 40, all deny a total of 63 charges between them, with offences said to have occurred between 1987 and 2003.

Ms Colborne said Arshid Hussain played a key role in the alleged offences.

She said: “He used them for his own gratification, then often prostituted them or passed them on to his brothers or associates of his. He was assisted in differing ways by the other defendants, each willingly engaged in exploitative behaviour and using the girls to their own ends.”

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