MAN GUILTY OF REPEATEDLY RAPING RUNAWAY BIRMINGHAM GIRL, 16, WHO WAS SHARED AROUND IN HOTEL ROOM
Four men have been found guilty over a vulnerable 16-year-old girl who was exploited, sexually assaulted and raped after being picked up in Birmingham.The victim, who had run away from home, got into Arqash Zaffar's BMW on Alum Rock Road in July 2019.
She alleged he raped her multiple times over the next few days, including in a hotel room full of men who took turns abusing her.
Mohammed Nadim, who was in Zaffar's car when he picked her up, groped her in the back of the vehicle.
Shahban Arif made arrangements for her to be housed in a hotel in Walsall.
And fourth defendant Shiraz Nassar raped the girl in his flat in Manchester, after Zaffar had driven her there in the middle of the night.
A jury convicted the four men of various offences following a five-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court.
Zaffar, 41, from Persehouse Street, Walsall, was found guilty of five counts of rape, four of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent and one of arranging the travel of another person with a view to exploitation.
Nadim, 45, from Wednesbury Road, Walsall, was found guilty of one count of sexual assault.
Arif, 42, of Holden Crescent, Walsall, was found guilty of the single exploitation offence.
Nassar, 40, from Fir Road, Denton in Manchester, was convicted of one charge of rape.
Sentencing was adjourned until March 19 next year.
The girl disclosed what happened to her social worker after returning home on August 12, 2019, when she was described as being 'extremely upset'.
She identified three of the defendants by their nicknames, with Zaffar known as 'Mikey', Nadim referred to as 'Dimma' and Nassar called 'Soldier'.
She could only recall Arif by his appearance, stating he had a 'rat-like face'.
He was subsequently designated the nickname 'rat' at trial.
She accepted she had claimed she was aged 19 to them at the time.
The jury was told the girl was picked up by Zaffar and Nadim on Alum Rock Road on July 20, 2019.
She said from there she was driven to a dead end and asked to kiss both men, who exposed themselves to her.
The girl told police she was driven to a car park where Nadim sexually assaulted her in the back of the BMW, before Zaffar forced her to perform oral sex.
She said at one point Zaffar picked up a 'small, proper skinny guy', known to be Arif, and drove her to Manchester where she was raped by Zaffar and Nassar, whose apartment it was.
The girl further claimed Zaffar raped her in a hotel in Walsall in front of a 'baby-faced' man called 'Young Boy'.
She stated that in a different hotel room with a number of other men Zaffar boasted about her and said she was 'sexually available'.
She told officers he proceeded to rape her in front of them, before each of the other men also took turns raping her.
Her ordeal ended when she was dropped off near Selfridges in Birmingham.
All four defendants accepted being in the girl's company but denied the offences.
