Teen trip to London raised alarm over sexual exploitation gang - court

The aunt of a teenage girl who said she was sexually exploited by a gang of men has told a court the alarm was raised after the 15-year-old was taken to London, where she was said to be "terrified".

Four men from Rhyl, Denbighshire, are accused of conspiracy to traffic and supplying cannabis in payment for sexual services, Caernarfon Crown Court heard on Monday.

They also deny the same offence involving a 14-year-old girl.

Mustafa Iqbal, 43, Ziaullah Badshah, 25, and Mohamed Usman Arshad, 36, also face charges of rape - with the alleged victims aged between 14 and 16 years old. They have pleaded not guilty to all the charges they face.

On Monday, the court heard the 15-year-old, known as Child B, alleged she was raped by three of the men in the spring of 2022.

In April 2022, she told police she was driven to London by 65-year-old Jaswinder Singh, the prosecution heard on Monday. Singh denies trafficking or supplying the girl with cannabis.

Questioned in court by prosecutor Owen Edwards KC, the teenager's aunt told the jury she had received a phone call from the mother of one of the girl's friends who lived in London.

The aunt, who raised Child B as her own child and has not been named for legal reasons, said the teenager was "a mess".

She told the court: "She was inconsolable, scared, just terrified."

The girl's aunt told the court she was unaware the 15-year-old had travelled to London and believed she had been staying with a friend nearby.

On the teenager's return to Rhyl, she described Child B as looking like "a shell", adding she was "totally deflated".

The aunt told the jury it was only when she later sat in on video interviews with police that she became aware of the full allegations of sexual abuse made by the girl.

Defendant Iqbal faces further charges of raping a 16-year-old girl, and of suppyling the teenager with cannabis and cocaine in conjunction with Sarah Gray, 53. Gray also faces charges of perverting the course of justice and assisting an offender. She denies the charges.

Iqbal, who faces four counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault, also faces charges of arranging or facilitating the travel of another person with a view to exploitation.

The trial continues. It is expected to last between six and eight weeks.