SEX EXPLOITATION TRIAL: THREE MEN PLEAD GUILTY

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

An artist's impression of the three men accused of sexually exploiting a 16-year-old schoolgirl

Sex exploitation trial: three men plead guilty

The trial of three men accused of sexually exploiting a 16-year-old schoolgirl was dramatically stopped today, for guilty pleas to be entered.

Aabidali Mubarak Ali (39), Rakib Iacub (20) and Wajid Usman (22), admitted seven of the 22 counts they originally faced.

The prosecution accepted the guilty pleas to the lesser number of offences “in the public interest” and to spare the “vulnerable victim” the ordeal of giving evidence in court.

The girl, now 17, was due to go into the witness box at Leicester Crown Court this afternoon to be cross-examined by three defence advocates.

The prosecution claimed the defendants ignored her young age and paid, or offered to pay her, for sexual activity.

During the trial, the court heard the victim had voluntarily sold sexual services to friends to raise money because she wanted to leave home.

She admitted taking cannabis and drinking vodka to excess to “ease my sorrow.”

Whilst in that vulnerable state, she met Iacub at a Diwali festival last November, which led to the co-accused and three other men becoming sexually involved with her.

Judge Michael Pert QC discharged the jury from further involvement.

Ali, of Guthlaxton Street, Highfields, admitted two counts of paying for the sexual services of a child under 18 - at a guest house in Saxby Street, Highfields, and at a flat in Kashmir Road, St Matthews - as well one offence of facilitating child prostitution at the flat, between last November and January.

Iacub, of Maynard Road, Highfields, admitted offering to pay for the sexual services of a child under 18 and facilitating child prostitution, at the guest house.

He also admitted offering to pay the girl for a sexual encounter in a car at Leicester’s Watermead Park.

Usman, an illegal immigrant from Afghanistan, of no fixed address, admitted one count of paying for the sexual services of a child under 18, at a flat attached to the Mogul Durbar, restaurant in East Park Road, Spinney Hills.

Usman stayed at the flat for three or four weeks, whilst informally helping out at the restaurant – which was ransacked by members of the Sikh community, mainly from Derby, who were protesting about the perceived lack of police action in relation to the victim in this case, in January.

A group of 40 to 50 men burst in and attacked innocent members of staff, who had nothing to with the child exploitation allegations, causing customers to flee in terror.

The prosecutor, Matthew Lowe, said today: “Regarding the guilty pleas, the matter has been considered at a very high level within the CPS, the police force and there’s been consultation with the complainant and those who are looking after her interests.

“It avoids a damaged and fragile young women giving evidence and being asked questions.”

They will be sentenced on August 30, along with three other men, who have already admitted related charges involving the same victim.

They are Bharat Modhwadia (25), of Wycombe Road, Humberstone, Leicester, Hamza Imtiazali (25), of Kashmir Road, and Chandresh Mistry (37), of Berridge Lane, Belgrave, Leicester.

Afterwards, head of Leicestershire Police Safeguarding department, Det Superintendent David Sandall, said: “The victim supports the action that’s been taken today.

“It’s a relief for her, and her family, that she won’t have to re-live her ordeal and be cross-examined by three defence barristers“She was targeted because of her vulnerability and that’s why she was exploited.

“She’s had a wide range of support, including from her family and the police to prepare her for the trial.”

He said although the police were informed about exploitation relating to the girl, before the Moghul Durbar restaurant was ransacked, it was not until after that incident that she actually made “disclosures” about what had happened to her.

He said: “She was supported by third parties and we were victim-led and didn’t pressure her.

“Within three days of her telling us we’d made arrests.“

Det Supt Sandall said the suggestion, by the victim in her tape-recorded police interview, that other Sikh girls may have been exploited was “proactively investigated”.

He said: “People haven’t told us of any other victim, but we would encourage anyone to come forward.

“We’ve worked closely with social care, health services and schools as part of this investigation.”

ANARCHY

This article appears on the front page of today's Leicester Mercury:

Anarchy: Court hears of horrific attack on curry house

by Suzy Gibson, Court Correspondent

The actions of seven men involved in the ransacking of a Leicester curry house, in which several people were seriously injured, was "lawless anarchy", a judge has said.

Jailing each of the men for two years, Judge Simon Hammond said: "This was mob rule."

The owner and two members of staff suffered stab wounds, and customers were also attacked, when a group of 40 to 50 people burst into Moghul Durbar, in East Park Road, Spinney Hills, Leicester, at 9pm on January 14.

Leicester Crown Court was told the group had earlier met at a Sikh temple in Gipsy Lane, Northfields, in response to a text message claiming a member of their community was the victim of abuse.

They wrongly assumed the police were not taking action and, after being incorrectly informed that one or more of the suspected culprits would be at the restaurant, decided to take the law into their own hands.

"The owner and two members of staff were going about their lawful business and several members of the public, occupying four or five tables, including women and children, were eating there and enjoying themselves," said Gordon Aspden, prosecuting.

"The attack happened without warning, when the group began smashing the front windows of the restaurant.

"Armed men entered, from the front and rear. Many had their faces covered with scarves and hoods. Some were carrying ceremonial knives, metal bars, nunchucks and bricks.

"The sheer terror caused can't be over-emphasised. The premises were completely trashed, with furniture, glasses and plates smashed and carpets fouled with food and blood. It was wanton destruction.

"The owner was hit on the head by flying glass and forced into the kitchen, where he was stabbed in the chest and right arm and punched repeatedly.

"The waiter had hot water and chilli sauce thrown over him before suffering a life-threatening stab wound to his liver, while repeatedly being punched and kicked. The chef was stabbed in the back and hit over the head."

A husband and wife with their three children were finishing their ice creams when the mayhem broke out.

The husband was punched and retreated to the kitchen where a pan of hot curry was poured over him.

Mr Aspden said: "Two of his children followed him and saw what happened, and one was injured by a flying glass."

The man was the only witness willing to make a statement, as everyone else was too fearful.

People were seen fleeing in terror and covered in blood.The emergency services were called and who arrived quickly, moments after the mob fled. Mr Aspden said Pc Jennifer Collins's actions at the scene were "exemplary".

He said: "Her uniform was covered in so much blood, through helping the injured, it was used as an exhibit."

Two witnesses gave the police a registration number of one of the vehicles at the scene, a VW Golf, which was stopped northbound on the M1.

Masking tape had been used to alter its registration number, to try to evade the police.

Six of the defendants, all from Derby, were in the car: Surjit Pandher (28), a former prison warden, of Northfield, who owned the car; Gurmukh Singh Cheema (25), of Harrington Street; Ranjit Singh (21), of Harrington Street; Sundeep Singh Sangha (25), a gas heating engineer, of Wordsworth Avenue; Rajveer Singh Sangha (24), a college student, of Wordsworth Avenue; and Ranvir Singh (21), of Harrington Street.

Mr Aspden said blood-stained gloves were found in the car.

The seventh defendant, Kahan Khalsa (26), of Oldbury, Birmingham, was later arrested in the West Midlands.

All seven men pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit violent disorder, on the basis they played no part in the stabbings or beatings.

Mr Aspden said: "It's quite impossible, on the evidence, to say who did what."

In a moving statement read out in court, the restaurant owner's wife said her husband survived a near-fatal car crash in 2008, after which he suffered from depression.

When they bought the restaurant in 2012, she said it gave him and the whole family "a new lease of life".

Mr Aspden said: "They were proud to have built the restaurant up from nothing ."

The owner's wife said she received a phone call after the attack and went to the restaurant to see her husband, covered in blood, being put in an ambulance.

She stated: "Since the attack, he's back to how he was before the restaurant.

"We've lost over £45,000 and we now want to want to move from here."

Judge Simon Hammond said: "No-one at the restaurant, either staff or customers, had anything do to with any allegations and were totally innocent."

He added: "It was carefully orchestrated. This was mob rule and the restaurant was trashed. It was lawless anarchy."

The judge said it was "as bad a case of violent disorder as is possible to imagine".

"I accept all seven defendants are decent men of previous good character. It gives me great sadness to see them in the dock.

"They come from good homes and they've let themselves and their families down."

He said the dozens of testimonials handed into the court spoke highly of the defendants.

In mitigation, the court heard the defendants, including two sets of brothers, genuinely regretted their involvement.

Francis Laird QC, mitigating for Ranjit Singh, said that at the meeting in the temple emotions were "whipped into a frenzy".

He said: "They set off, many not knowing what would happen, unaware weapons other than ceremonial kirpans were involved. The men responsible for serious violence were never caught.

"These defendants were the minnows, who went along out of misguided support."

Other defence counsel said some of them were only expecting "a protest" at the restaurant and did not anticipate violence.

PROTESTER WHO TORE UP KORAN HAS CASE DROPPED AT LEICESTER COURT

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Protester who tore up Koran has case dropped at Leicester court

A man who was put on trial after staging an anti-religion protest by ripping out pages from the Koran in front of Muslims has had the case against him dropped.

A jury at Leicester Crown Court failed to reach a verdict in the case against Peter James Crawford last month.

The Crown Prosecution Service reviewed the evidence and a decision was made not to continue with a fresh trial.

The case was dropped against Mr Crawford, 52, when the prosecution offered no evidence against him at a hearing – a move described by Mr Crawford's advocate as "sensible".

During the trial in December, Mr Crawford was alleged to have torn pages from his own copy of the Koran and thrown the holy book on the ground next to a stall run by the Islamic Information Centre, near the Clock Tower, in Leicester, on May 12 last year.

He told Muslim volunteers at the stall that he disagreed with their religion.

Mr Crawford, of Mere Road, Spinney Hills, Leicester, claimed in interview he was expressing his disagreement with religion of any kind, saying it was all "b******t".

He told police he would have done the same with a Bible as he did not understand either holy book and "hated" all religion.

"I'm not against the people, just their religion," he said.

James Bide-Thomas, prosecuting, said in his opening address to the jury last month that freedom of speech was "tradition in this country" and "people are entitled to say what they want, as long as it's not illegal in relation to the law which prevents people going out to cause harassment, alarm or distress by insulting behaviour".

He said: "It's for you to decide whether what he did was insulting or whether it was a legitimate piece of freedom of speech being exercised, or whether what he did was deliberately calculated to upset the people from the Islamic Information Centre."

The jury told the judge there was no prospect of them reaching either a unanimous verdict or one on which at least 10 of them agreed.

Mr Crawford had denied causing religiously aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress, by demonstrating hostility based on membership of a particular religious group.

Speaking this week, Mr Crawford's defence advocate during the trial, Steven Newcombe, said: "I think the prosecution made a sensible decision not to have a retrial in the light of the jury being deadlocked.

"There were other ways of dealing with this matter, rather than attempting to prosecute Mr Crawford in a crown court.

"He has learned a lesson and I'm sure he will conduct himself with a greater degree of sensitivity."

A spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service said: "When jury cannot decide on a verdict, the prosecution must decide whether to seek a retrial on the basis of the same evidence.

"A number of factors must be taken into account, including the likely penalty if the defendant is found guilty, the time delay in securing a date for the retrial, the views of the victim, judiciary and police and the likelihood of another jury reaching a decision."

Mr Crawford was not available for comment.

KORAN-RIPPING JURY DISCHARGED

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Koran-ripping jury discharged

The jury in the trial of a man who staged an anti-religion protest by ripping out pages from the Koran in front of Muslims has been discharged.

The eight women and four men on the jury at Leicester Crown Court failed to agree on a verdict.

They sent a note to the judge saying there was no prospect of them reaching either a unanimous or a majority verdict on which at least 10 of them agreed.

Peter James Crawford (52) was said to have torn pages from his own copy of the Koran and thrown the holy book on the ground next to a stall run by the Islamic Information Centre, near the Clock Tower, in Leicester city centre, on the afternoon of May 12.

Crawford, of Mere Road, Spinney Hill, Leicester, denied causing religiously aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress by demonstrating hostility based on membership of a particular religious group. The Crown Prosecution Service has 14 days to decide whether or not to proceed with a retrial.

Crawford was released on bail with a condition imposed that he should not to go within half-a-mile of the Clock Tower on Saturday afternoons.

RIPPING KORAN WAS "FREEDOM OF SPEECH"

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Ripping Koran was "freedom of speech"

An atheist who ripped out pages from the Koran in front of Muslims at a stall promoting Islam was simply exercising freedom of speech, a court heard.

Peter James Crawford told police his decision to then throw the holy book on to the pavement at the Clock Tower, in Leicester city centre, was part of his protest against religion.

The 52-year-old is on trial at Leicester Crown Court accused of causing religiously aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress, by demonstrating hostility based on membership of a particular religious group, Islam.

He denies the charge.

Barrister Steven Newcombe, who is representing Crawford, told the jury: "You have to expect that if you set up a stall in the city centre of Leicester advocating views, you are going to get people who have a completely opposite view.

"To do what they did in such a place takes a bit of a thick skin.

"You have to anticipate and expect that somebody is going to take exception and that is exactly what this defendant did.

"This defendant had a right to freedom of expression, just as the two Muslims had a similar right to advocate their religion."

After he had been arrested, Crawford told police he had had the copy of the Koran for two years and had studied it.

Prosecutor James Bide-Thomas told the jury Crawford, of Mere Road, Spinney Hill, Leicester, had approached the Islamic Information Centre's stall run by volunteers under the Clock Tower on Saturday, May 12.

He said at about 1.30pm, Crawford tore out pages of the Koran he had brought with him and then threw the holy book on to the pavement.

Mr Bide-Thomas said: "You the jury have to decide whether he made a valid religious protest or did he go out to upset some Muslims?"He said it was the prosecution case that Crawford had deliberately caused distress and upset to the Muslims on the stall.

Her honour Judge Taylor QC told the jury that the case centred on the balance between the right of Crawford to freedom of speech and the right of the two Muslims to advocate their views without being subject to criminal behaviour.

She said the jury had to decide whether Crawford's behaviour had been insulting and whether the decision to prosecute him was proportionate.

The jury of eight women and four men deliberated for one hour and 39 minutes before the judge sent them to a hotel for the night. They were due to resume their deliberations today.

ATHEIST IN COURT FOR RIPPING UP KORAN

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Atheist in court for ripping up Koran

An atheist shocked Muslim volunteers at a stall promoting Islam when he ripped out pages from the Koran.

Peter James Crawford (52) then threw the holy book onto the ground and told them: "Your religion is a load of b******s."

He is on trial at Leicester Crown Court accused of causing religiously aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress, by demonstrating hostility based on membership of a particular religious group, Islam. He denies the charge.

The incident happened at the Islamic Information Centre's stall, near the Clock Tower in Leicester city centre, on a busy Saturday afternoon, on May 12.

Kamran Qayyum, an employee of the organisation, told the court: "We give out literature to create an awareness of Islam and engage with the public."

He was with four volunteers when Crawford began pacing around nearby.

Mr Qayyum said: "He started tearing up pages from a book and they were going on the floor. He wasn't saying anything. The pages covered a lot of ground, they were everywhere.

"I then noticed Arabic inscriptions and realised it was the Koran. I knelt down and was picking up the papers when he threw the Koran down, just missing me."

Mr Qayyum said: "The Koran is sacred to us and we honour it. We also have a Bible on our stand and we show the Bible the same respect.

"One of the laws of the Koran is it shouldn't be on the floor, it should be high up and our hands should be clean when it's touched. I was shocked."

Mr Quyyum said after the defendant was arrested: "He made a signal to us, shaping his hand in the form of a gun, saying 'See you next Saturday.'

Defence advocate Steven Newcombe said: "There are many who oppose Islam. Did you take it he was expressing anti-Islamic views and disrespecting the religion?"

"Yes," said Mr Quyyum.

Mr Quyyum agreed that apart from a hand gesture – which Mr Newcombe suggested was the pointing of a finger rather than a gun gesture – the defendant did not threaten or provoke any violence.

Another stall volunteer, Zahid Hussein, said: "I saw him ripping up the book. I was in shock, disgusted. It's our life, our way of life and we live by that book – it's very sacred."

He said Crawford told them their religion was "a load of b******s."

Crawford, of Mere Road, Spinney Hill, Leicester, claimed, in interview, he was expressing his disagreement with religion of any kind.

He told the police it was his own copy of the Koran he tore up, and he would have done the same with a Bible as he did not understand either holy book and "hated" all religion.

"I'm not against the people, just their religion," he said.

James Bide-Thomas, prosecuting, said: "The real issue is whether Crawford was insulting and whether it was a crime that we say he committed.

"It's tradition in this country of freedom of speech and people are entitled to say what they want, as long as it's not illegal in relation to the law, which prevents people going out to cause harassment, alarm or distress by insulting behaviour, basically upsetting people.

"It's for you to decide whether what he did was insulting or whether it was a legitimate piece of freedom of speech being exercised or if what he did was deliberately calculated to upset the people from the Islamic Information Centre."

The trial continues.

MOSQUE ARSONIST

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Mosque arsonist

An arsonist who endangered lives when he set fire to a city mosque has appeared in court.

Somali-national Saleebaan Sheikh-Omar admitted setting fire to the Alforqan mosque, in St Matthews, on June 21 this year.

The Leicester Crown Court case was adjourned until December 14, for the preparation of a psychiatric report.

The 42-year-old defendant, of Claremont Street, Leicester, was remanded back into custody.