Girl lied about her age, sex ring trial told (From The Oxford Times)

Girl lied about her age, sex ring trial told

10:00am Saturday 9th March 2013 in News By Ben Wilkinson, Crime Reporter. Call me on (01865) 425427

UNDERAGE girls were asked how old they were before being given drugs and alcohol by a man accused of sexually exploiting children, the Old Bailey heard yesterday.

The last alleged victim to give evidence in the Oxford child sex ring trial also said men would approach her in Cowley Road thinking she was a prostitute.

Now 17, the unnamed witness known as Girl 6 claims she had sex with Zeeshan Ahmed when she was 15 between June 2010 and June 2011.

Ahmed, now 27, denies sexual activity with a child and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child.

The jury saw a video of a police interview with the alleged victim from June last year. The girl told DC Alexandra Gill she thought Ahmed was a “nice guy” but after “a couple of months of getting to know him he started to show his proper side.” She said he started to drink heavily, take a lot of cocaine, and fight.

The 15-year-old told the officer Ahmed would also invite friends and relatives to his flat off Cowley Road. She said the men would pressure her to drink alcohol and take drugs.

She told the jury: “I started to see different faces I didn’t know. Honestly I think they were planning to do something.”

But she said she had never been forced to do anything she did not want to.

The girl said she had sex with Zeeshan about three months after they met. She said they had both had too much to drink and it “just happened”.

But when asked if she would have had sex with the man sober, she said: “No. He’s ugly.” Yet she told the officer: “I do like him and don’t want to get him in to trouble.”

The girl also told Dc Gill men on Cowley Road would think she was a prostitute.

She said: “They would say are you working tonight? Like I was a prostitute. Even the man in the chip shop said it. Taxis used to beep at me as well.”

The teenager also said her friend Girl 5, now 16, would lie about her age and had started having sex aged 11. The court heard on Thursday Ahmed’s DNA had been found in Girl 5’s underwear.

She said: “I told her don’t lie about your age because one day someone is going to get you and do something bad. She would do anything with anyone.”

When being cross-examined in the witness stand, Girl 6 she said she told Ahmed she was 14 when she and her friends first went to his flat.

She said: “When we came there he asked all of our ages when we sat down.”

She said Girl 5 lied and said she was 17 or 18. But the witness said she later told Ahmed Girl 5 was underage but he did not believe her.

James Mulholland, defending Ahmed, suggested the witness lied about her age as she wanted to seem older. She replied: “Yes I did hang around with a couple of older people but I never lied about my age.”

Mr Mulholland also suggested she could not say exactly when she had sex with his client. But the witness said she knew it was three months after they first met as she had written in down in her diary.

All nine defendants deny all charges against them.

The trial, which has been running for eight weeks, continues.