'Gang of men raped children and gave them drugs in exploitation ring'

A group of men have denied being part of a child sexual exploitation gang that raped teenage girls and supplied them with drugs.

They are accused of being involved in a conspiracy to traffic teenage girls and supplying drugs in payment for sexual services in Rhyl, Denbighshire, Caernarfon Crown Court heard on Monday.

Mustafa Iqbal, 43, Ziaullah Badshah, 25, and Mohamed Usman Arshad, 36, also face charges of rape with victims aged between 14 and 16-years-old. They deny the charges.

Owen Edwards KC, prosecuting, said the main abuser was Iqbal, a take-away delivery driver and drug dealer, describing him as a "predator who used and abused his victims".

The court heard Iqbal spotted the first two victims, a 14-year-old referred to as Girl A, and a 15-year-old called Girl B, out in Rhyl on a spring evening in 2022.

The jury was told the girls had already taken cannabis and "were ripe for sexual exploitation", Edwards said.

The court heard Iqbal persuaded them to come to his home and called his friends Badshah and Arshad over.

The two girls were plied with drink and cannabis before the sexual assaults took place, the court heard.

"They took the girls as sexual commodities," Edwards said. "They took full sexual advantage of 'Girl B' in particular."

The court heard that the accusations came to light after another man, Jaswinder Singh, 61, also from Rhyl, took Girl B to London where the alarm was raised.

Edwards said: "At this stage, the four men were arrested and made denials."

The jury was told that Iqbal continued to groom another girl, a 16-year-old who had been in a care setting.

The prosecutor said Girl C was given cocaine and cannabis by Iqbal in return for sex, adding that she was used as a "sexual plaything".

However she finally went public after being handcuffed by Iqbal and forced to have sex, the court heard.

The group face twenty-eight charges between them, involving accusations of trafficking for sexual exploitation, rape, supplying drugs and sexual assaults.

Iqbal is accused of twenty-one separate charges, which include the rape of Girl B and C, and sexually assaulting Girl A.

Badshah and Arshad are accused of raping Girl B, along with trafficking allegations.

Singh also denies conspiracy to trafficking two of the victims and of conspiracy to supply cannabis to them.

Sarah Gray, 53, denied supplying cocaine and cannabis to Girl C, as well as perverting the course of justice.

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