Child sex abuse trial defendant denies "bully" claims

Nabeel Kurshid (38, pictured), of Weetwood Road, Rotherham, is on trial at Sheffield Crown Court facing two counts of rape and one of indecent assault.

He and seven other men are standing trial at the court accused of 27 offences, mainly relating to child sexual exploitation, between 1998 and 2005.

The charges are part of the National Crime Agency’s investigation into historic CSE in the town — dubbed Operation Stovewood — between 1997 and 2013.

Kurshid is alleged to have raped a girl in Sherwood Forest between July 2002 and April 2003, when the girl would have been 14 or 15.

He said the women accusing him of sexual abuse had identified the wrong man.

Ms Michelle Colborne, prosecuting, said at the trial on Monday (8): “You're seeking to present yourself as a hard-working, monogamous lover when in fact you were in the thick of it, weren't you?”

Kurshid replied: “That's not correct.”

Ms Colborne said: “You were bullying the girls into doing what you wanted.”

Kurshid replied: “That's not correct.”

Ms Colborne said: “You were threatening to drop them on the roadside if they didn’t do what they were told.”

Kurshid replied: “That's not correct.”

Ms Colborne said: “You were doing Iqqy’s bidding for him when he couldn't get his own way.”

Kurshid replied: “That’s not correct.”

“Iqqy” refers to Iqlak Yousaf  (34, below), of Tooker Road, Rotherham, who is also charged with rape in connection with the alleged incident in Sherwood Forest.

Yousaf, who faces four counts in total, said he knew the girl in 2004, a year after the alleged incident, when she worked “a few minutes’ walk” from Kwiksave, where he used to hang out.

His defence counsel, Mr David McGonigal, said: “Did you ever have any kind of relationship with her?”

Yousaf said: “No.”

Mr McGonigal said: “Did you ever have sex with her?”

Yousaf said: “Never, no.”

Mr McGonigal said: “Did you ever take her out in your car?”

Yousaf said: “She’s never been in my car.”

Yousaf is accused of repeatedly raping another girl between May, 2001 and May, 2003, when she was aged between 14 and 16, and of repeatedly indecently assaulting the same girl by forcing her to perform a sexual act on him.

Giving evidence from the witness stand, Yousaf told jurors that he knew the girl when he was a taxi driver in around September, 2004.

He said the girl used to hang around outside Kwik Save.

Mr McGonigal said: “Did you ever speak to her?”

Yousaf said: “Yes.”

Mr McGonigal said: “Did you ever take her out in the car?”

Yousaf said: “Definitely not.”

Mr McGonigal said: “Did you ever have a relationship with her?”

Yousaf said: “No.”

Mr McGonigal said: “Did you ever have sex with her?”

Yousaf said: “Never, no.”

The trial continues.