A YOUNG woman was telling "whoppers" when she told the Old Bailey she was raped and sold for sex as a child, a jury heard this morning.

A defence lawyer said the witness had told lies and was "utterly unreliable".

Lee Karu, representing Anjum "Jammy" Dogar, said in his closing speech there was not enough evidence to make the jury sure he was guilty.

Dogar, 31, is one of nine men accused of running a child sex ring in Oxford.

He denies abusing the complainants known as Girl 1, 2, and 3, from 2004 to 2008 when they were aged between 13 and 15.

His barrister said to the jury: "The evidence for the three girls upon which you rely on is unreliable. Utterly unreliable."

And he said that was why prosecutors kept reiterating the girls had "hazy" memories due to drink and drug abuse.

The nine counts against Dogar, of Tawney Street in East Oxford, include rape and arranging or facilitating child prostitution.

But Mr Karu said there were inconsistencies in Girl 1's evidence. And he questioned why she did not identify his client in a police procedure last year.

He said: "She is sitting down in that witness box and telling a big whopper. It's a lie, nothing more, nothing less."

Girl 1 had told the jury Dogar was part of a group that drove her to Shotover Woods and threatened to slit her throat before forcing her to perform a sex act on them all.

But Mr Karu said: "It is just another whopper. It is nonsense."

He also said he wondered whether Mulsim men would have told her they would cut her throat "like a pig", as she had told the court.

The lawyer said Dogar did not defend himself on the witness stand because the prosecution did not present a case he needed to answer.

He said: "He is perfectly entitled to sit there and think 'I don't think much of your case'."

The defence barrister told the jury to judge his client on the evidence alone, adding: "Not with feeling. Not with guess work. Not with sympathy. Not with prejudice. Be dispassionate."

He said: "This is the most important thing as far as Mr Anjum Dogar is concerned. His life, his future, is all about this case."

The defendants deny all charges. The trial continues.