AN “UTTERLY unreliable” woman was telling “whoppers” when she said she was raped and sold for sex as a child, a jury heard yesterday.

Another defence lawyer told the Oxford grooming trial it would be an “injustice” to convict his client because there is a “real possibility” his accuser got it wrong.

Nine men deny involvement in a gang accused of grooming young girls, introducing them to drugs and forcing them to have sex.

Lee Karu, representing Anjum “Jammy” Dogar, said in his closing speech there was not enough evidence to make the jury sure he was guilty.

Dogar, 31, denies abusing the complainants known as Girl 1, 2 and 3, from 2004 to 2008 when they were aged between 13 and 15.

His barrister: “The evidence for the three girls upon which you rely on is unreliable. Utterly unreliable.”

He said that was why prosecutors kept reiterating the girls had “hazy” memories due to drink and drug abuse.

The nine counts against Dogar, of Tawney Street in East Oxford, include rape and arranging or facilitating child prostitution. But Mr Karu said there were inconsistencies in Girl 1’s evidence. And he questioned why she did not identify him in a police procedure last year.

He said: “She is sitting down in that witness box and telling a big whopper. It’s a lie, nothing more, nothing less.”

Girl 1 told the jury Dogar was part of a group that drove her to Shotover Woods and threatened to slit her throat before forcing her to perform a sex act on them all. But Mr Karu said: “It is just another whopper. It is nonsense.”

He said Dogar did not defend himself on the witness stand because the prosecution did not present a case to answer.

He asked the jury to judge on the evidence alone, adding: “Not with feeling. Not with guesswork. Not with sympathy. Not with prejudice. Be dispassionate. His life, his future, is all about this case.”

Assad Hussain, 32, is charged with rape and sexual activity with a child. Girl 1 claims he raped her between the ages of 13 and 15 from 2004 to 2007.

But his barrister Mark George, in his closing speech, said she only identified him in a police identity procedure last year. And he said she had admitted being “out of her box” on drink and drugs.

He asked the jury: “Isn’t there a real possibility she has got it wrong?

“When you look at all the evidence can you really put your hand on your heart and say you are sure she got it right? To find Assad Hussain guilty would be an injustice in this case.”

Hussain, of Ashhurst Way in Rose Hill, also denies Girl 5’s claims he had sex with her when she was 14 in 2011 knowing how old she was.

The trial continues.

THE DEFENDANTS

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