A MAN who had sex with a child “assumed” she was over 16 as she never went to school and stayed out late, the Old Bailey heard yesterday.

Mohammed Hussain, one of nine men accused of running a sex exploitation ring in Oxford, admits having sex with the complainant known as Girl 5 but denies he knew she was aged between 12 and 14.

He said he would have expected her parents to keep her home at night if she had been under the age of consent.

The court also heard mobile phone records showed most of the alleged gang members had been in contact with each other.

Girl 5, now 16, claims she had sex with Mohammed and Assad Hussain, and cousins Zeeshan and Bilal Ahmed between the ages of 12 and 14. But when arrested last July, Mohammed Hussain, now 24, told police she said she was 17.

Hussain denies rape, sexual activity with a child, and conspiracy to commit sexual activity with a child.

In a statement, he said: “I accept I have had sexual intercourse with (Girl 5).

“However, any sexual activity ever engaged in was with her agreement at all times and I believed her to be over 16.”

He added: “I believe that (Girl 5) was over 16 as she told me she was 17. She was fully developed and looked 17.

“Also, she was always out late at night and I assumed that she was over 16, as if she was younger then I would have thought her parents would have made her stay home.

“In the time I knew her she never went to school and was never in school uniform which suggested she must have been 16 or over. She told me she had been in the sixth form but had been kicked out.”

Hussain also admitted he had known the alleged victim’s sister but said she never told him her younger sibling’s age. He said he was never violent and never gave the girl drugs and alcohol so she would have sex with him.

The jury also heard that Bilal Ahmed, from Maidenhead, told police after his arrest last April that he had wanted to “cut” his cousin Zeeshan Ahmed out of his life.

The Oxford sex exploitation trial also heard mobile phones seized by police showed contact between seven of the nine defendants.

Phone evidence was not available for two of the defendants, the jury heard.

Prosecutor Neil Moore said Kamar Jamil, brothers Akhtar and Anjum Dogar, and Assad Hussain had all been contacting each other before they were arrested last year.

He said Zeeshan Ahmed’s number had been found in phones belonging to Jamil, the Dogars, and Mohammed Hussain.

Mohammed Hussain’s number was saved in the mobiles of the Dogars, Assad Hussain, and Zeeshan Ahmed.

And the Dogar brothers’ numbers were in Mohammed Karrar’s phone, the court heard.

The jury was told the prosecution case will now finish on Thursday after legal procedures today and tomorrow.

Judge Peter Rook said the defence case would start on Monday.

  • Kamar Jamil, 27, of Aldrich Road, Summertown, Oxford, denies four rapes, three charges of conspiracy to rape, two of arranging or facilitating child prostitution, and one of trafficking for sexual exploitation.
  • Akhtar Dogar, 32, of Tawney Street, East Oxford, denies six rapes, three charges of conspiracy to rape, three of arranging or facilitating child prostitution, and trafficking for sexual exploitation.
  • Assad Hussain, 32, of Ashhurst Way, Rose Hill, Oxford, denies two charges of conspiracy to rape and three of sexual activity with a child.
  • Anjum Dogar, 31, of Tawney Street, East Oxford, denies four rapes, three charges of conspiracy to rape, three of arranging or facilitating child prostitution, and trafficking for sexual exploitation.
  • Mohammed Karrar, 38, of Kames Close, Cowley, denies seven rapes, four charges of conspiracy to rape, an alternative charge of conspiracy to commit sexual activity with a child, two of trafficking for sexual exploitation, two of arranging or facilitating child prostitution, assault, conspiracy to assault, using an instrument to procure a miscarriage, and supplying a Class A drug.
  • Bassam Karrar, 33, Hundred Acres Close, Cowley, denies three rapes, three charges of conspiracy to rape, two charges of arranging or facilitating child prostitution, trafficking for sexual exploitation, and conspiracy to assault.
  • Mohammed Hussain, 24, of Horspath Road, Cowley, Oxford, denies rape, conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child, and two charges of sexual activity with a child.
  • Zeeshan Ahmed, 27, of Palmer Road, Wood Farm, Oxford, denies two charges of conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child and two charges of sexual activity with a child.
  • Bilal Ahmed, 26, of Suffolk Road, Maidenhead, denies conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child and sexual activity with a child.