Huddersfield ‘grooming victim is lying’ says Usman Ali

There is not just one Muslim rape gang trial taking place in Yorkshire at the moment but two. I mentioned that the trial of ten men from Sheffield and the surrounding area started at the Crown Court in Sheffield earlier this month here. That trial continues but there have been no news reports since the opening speech; whether there is a specific reporting restriction or merely self-censorship by the MSM I don’t know.

The second trial is of seven men from the Huddersfield area which started at the Crown Court in Leeds. The BBC reported earlier this week. Also the Huddersfield Examiner. 

A man accused of raping a girl twice in his car said he had not had sex with her and did not really know her.

Seven men face 12 charges of rape and indecent assault on two girls in the Huddersfield area from 1995 to 2007.

Opening the trial earlier this month Kate Batty told the jury that the case concerns the sexual exploitation of two young girls who were deliberately targeted by older men who wanted to use them for their own sexual purposes. Mrs Batty said the girls’ vulnerability and low self-esteem meant they were more likely to submit to older men. She said the girls were groomed between the ages of 12 and 14 by being made to feel special, including by being given cigarettes, alcohol and drugs.

“She was threatened, she was spoken down to, she was intimidated and she was assaulted. She was frightened and she saw absolutely no way out of this life.” She said the girl’s family did everything they could to keep her safe and sought help from social services and the police ‘time and time again’, adding: “Back then, perhaps the authorities didn’t have the understanding that they now have about grooming and child sexual exploitation.

Leeds Crown Court heard the victim say she had been crying in the car and that Usman Ali, had “acted really rough”.

Kate Batty, prosecuting, told Mr Ali that if his defence was correct, then either the girl was lying or she was mistaken.

Mr Ali told Mrs Batty: “She’s lying, I’ve never been nowhere near her . . . I’m innocent, I’ve not touched her, she hasn’t been in my vehicles. I don’t even like the person,” he said.

Mr Ali also told the court he did not know his co-defendants and had “never spoken to them”.

All seven men deny the charges. The case is set to last three more weeks.

The accused are:

• Usman Ali, 34, of Huddersfield, who denies two charges of rape
• Banaras Hussain, 39, of Huddersfield, who denies one charge of rape
• Abdul Majid, 35, of Huddersfield, who denies two counts of rape
• Gul Riaz, 43, of Huddersfield, who denies two counts of rape and two counts of indecent assault
• Three other men who cannot be named for legal reasons each deny a count of rape