Telford sex abuse trial: Accused denies taking girl to house

Ghamer Sulayman, aged 23, said he would not treat the girl in that way and that she told him she was 18 when they began talking over social media in 2016.

Sulayman is one of three men on trial for sexual offences against the girl, who was 15 at the time.

Sulayman and the alleged victim first met in person on July 1, 2016, when he picked her up in a car with two other men, Shrewsbury Crown Court heard yesterday.

Under cross-examination by Mark George QC, Sulayman said that his first contact with her was earlier that year.

Sulayman said: “I asked her and she said she was 18. I wouldn’t speak to anyone under 18.”

The case so far:

• Accused claims girl said she was 16

• Telford child sex abuse trial told of phone data checks by phone expert

• Court told of 'relationship'

• Telford girl was ‘abused in hotel rooms’

• Three on trial for sex abuse of girl, 15, in Telford

On July 1 he had been given a lift to Telford by a man whose name he couldn’t recall, saying that he could remember it began with H. He said two other men, including Qasem, were also in the green Skoda car.

After picking up the girl the group drove to a house in Birmingham, where prosecutor Mark Heywood QC said she was taken to be abused by a group of men.

Sulayman denied any wrongdoing, saying he and the girl spent the night together alone at the house but did not have sex.

Sulayman, of Mercia Drive, Kings Heath, Birmingham, denies one count of rape and two of human trafficking. On Tuesday the judge directed the jury to find him not guilty of six other charges of rape and one of human trafficking against the girl.

Qasem, 20, of Runcorn Road, Balsall Heath, faces one count of sexual assault and one of trafficking.

Ayad Hizam, 21 and of Bridgecroft, Balsall Heath, also Birmingham, faces four counts of abduction and four counts of sexual activity with a child after allegedly taking the girl to hotels on several nights in 2016.

The trial continues.