Iranian ‘sex gang targeted vulnerable British girls by offering them free PIZZA’
THREE youngsters aged 13 to 16 were farmed out for sex with Iranian men, jury hears
A GANG of Iranian fast-food workers sexually exploited and groomed vulnerable teenage girls by offering them free pizza, a court heard.
Three alleged victims, one aged just 13, were allegedly targeted by the group who "farmed them out like cattle" to other men.
Mohammed Rostami, 37, Mehdi Zare, 32, and Amin Kaveh, 35, who had links to pizza shops in Chelmsford, Essex, are alleged to be the gang's ringleaders.
It is claimed they would pick the girls up from the takeaways before plying them with highly addictive drugs including cocaine and methadone.
The vulnerable girls quickly became pawns who would have sex with anyone for drugs, a jury heard.
Prosecutor Christopher Paxton told Chelmsford Crown Court: "At the heart of this case are three young women, vulnerable and troubled who have been sexually exploited by the defendants over two distinct periods of time.
"To these defendants these vulnerable young girls presented opportunities for sexual exploitation, farming them out for sex within a tight-knit group or just having sex with them for their own gratification."
One victim was only 13 when she met Rostami, a chef at Essex Pizza in Chelmsford, the court heard.
Rostami would pick the girl up from school while she was in her uniform and knew her age, Mr Paxton said.
He started by offering her free pizza before getting her hooked on cannabis and cocaine, the jury heard.
He then forced her to have sex with other men, it is alleged.
When he lost interest, he passed her to Mehdi Zare - who raped her and also forced her to to have sex with men from the Iranian community at addresses around Essex and Ilford, East London.
She told police: "Medi was the one who really got us bad."
Kaveh also knew the victim through the pizza shop and would supply her with drugs in exchange for sex, the court heard.
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The second alleged victim met Kaveh, who she knew as Amir, through a pizza shop at the end of 2012.
He convinced her and a friend to come to a house where they found a lot of Iranian men taking mephedrone - then forced her to take the drug, it is alleged.
Mr Paxton said: "They did not want to take the drug but were pressurised into it by Mr Kaveh. He told her if she did not do it he would push her face into the plate.
"The drug had a dramatic effect, causing the woman dizziness and numbness and caused her to lie on the bed."
Kaveh then removed her clothes and raped her, Mr Paxton said.
A week later the woman was waiting for a bus in Chelmsford when Kaveh approached her and pulled out a taser stun gun disguised as an iPhone, jurors heard.
Mr Paxton said: "He demanded that she come and work for him as a prostitute and drug dealer and if she didn't bad things would happen.
"She felt she had no choice but to go along and pleaded with him to keep her friend out of it."
The last alleged victim was 16 when she met Kaveh while working as a prostitute in Southend-on-Sea in June 2013. She was addicted to methadone and Kaveh exploited her, it is claimed.
Mr Paxton said: "He started farming her out to his contacts and made arrangements for them to come to his address and told them she was great.
"She was often paid in grams of Dolly and was expected to have sex with the men.
"One time at his flat she had sex with different men over four hours for 10 gram of Dolly, worth about £200.
"She was a heavy user of the drug at this time and was prepared to have sex with everyone who Mr Kaveh brought to the door."
He added: "The fact that she was involved in prostitution does not make her any less vulnerable in fact she was perhaps more vulnerable."
Rostami, Zare and Kaveh deny charges including rape, sexual activity with a child and inciting and arranging sexual exploitation of a child.
Two Chelmsford taxi drivers, Mohammed Zarei and Mehdi Khashi, both 32, each deny one count of rape.
The trial, expected to last four weeks, continues.
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