Two men prowled a city centre looking for drunk and vulnerable victims to sexually assault before raping a woman in a car, a court heard.

Najirul Miah, 20, and Syed Ahmed, 21, were parked outside a takeaway in Sunderland when the alleged victim asked for a lift, believing they were in an unlicensed taxi.

When she offered to pay them to take her home the pair drove her to a deserted street where they took it in turns to rape her in the back of the car, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

Najirul Miah (left) and leaving Newcastle Crown Court on (right) pictured leaving Newcastle Crown Court on Monday

Prosecutors say driver Ahmed and passenger Miah were loitering in the area to 'deliberately target drunk and vulnerable women in order to take advantage of their vulnerability and commit sexual offences on them.'

Prosecutor Paul Cleasby told the court the woman became separated from a friend after a night out in the early hours of April 10, 2016.

Her phone ran out of battery and she was unable to find a taxi, the court heard.

Mr Cleasby said: 'Had she been sober, she would, of course, have had second thoughts about approaching this vehicle but she was affected by alcohol and wasn't thinking straight.

'The prosecution say she was in a particularly vulnerable state and the defendants, who were the occupants of the silver vehicle, would have recognised her vulnerability immediately.

'It is the prosecution case that those defendants had, in fact, parked at that location in order to target drunk and vulnerable women, in order to take advantage of their vulnerability and commit sexual offences upon them.'

The court heard once the woman was in the back of the car, she was driven in the opposite direction of her home and 'quickly realised something was wrong.'

Syed Ahmed denies rape, false imprisonment and theft of the complainant's belongings

Mr Cleasby said the men demanded more money than the woman had and she handed over her bag to them.

He added: 'She thought to herself, she was in trouble here. The situation she was in was dangerous.'

During the rape, she 'tried to block out what was happening to her', and was ordered by the men to 'be a good woman' and told 'you've got to do this'.

When both men had finished, the woman was dragged out of the car and abandoned at the roadside.

Mr Cleasby added: 'The defendants, both having raped her, left her on the ground and they drove off, leaving her in the secluded area, miles from her home.'

The court heard the men kept the victim's handbag, which they 'callously' discarded.

The woman knocked on a number of doors before one was answered and she told the occupant she had been raped and robbed.

Jurors have been shown a video recorded statement the woman made with police in the days after the alleged attack.

She told detectives she had been eating and drinking with friends during the night out but ended up alone in the early hours when she became separated from a male friend she planned to share a taxi with.

The woman said: 'I was walking all over, looking for him, my mobile phone had died, I didn't have any battery to ring him and I didn't have any battery to ring a taxi.

'It was really late, there wasn't many people around and wasn't many taxis.

The woman said she had noticed what she believed was unlicensed taxis operating

in the area and got into a car she saw parked nearby.

She added: 'There was two of them sitting in the front. Obviously if I hadn't been drunk I would have thought twice.

'They said they were going to take me straight home and I had to give them money.

'I said "ok, I've got plenty of money in my bag".'

The woman said when she climbed into the back of the silver vehicle she immediately felt 'intimidated', then men started to say her home was too far away for the amount of money she had, so she handed over her full handbag.

She said the men then told her she would have to pay by carrying out sexual acts.

She added: 'They were driving really, really fast at the time.

'I thought "I'm in trouble here" and I had my head down on my knees because I was scared.

'I didn't know where I was going, I just had my head down.

'I realised I had put myself into a stupid situation.

'I only got in the car because I had no way to get home.

'At first I thought it was a taxi when they said they would take me home and just said give them some money.'

The woman said she was taken to 'the middle of nowhere', where each man took a turn to rape her in the back of the car, while she was 'stunned and in shock'.

She said during the ordeal she was 'scared' and the alleged attackers spoke to each other in an 'angry tone' and in a different language.

She added: 'There was no way I could get out of the car.'

The woman said after the attack she was dragged out of the car and added: 'They

just drove off, really fast, and left me there.'

She said she was 'really upset' after the attack and spent about 25 minutes knocking on doors of houses to get help.

During police interviews, the men claimed the woman had offered to do sexual acts in return for being taken home.

Ahmed, from Sunderland, denies rape, false imprisonment and theft of the complainant's belongings.

Miah, also from Sunderland, denies three counts of rape, a sexual assault and false imprisonment. He admitted theft.

During police interviews, the men claimed the woman had offered to do sexual acts in return for being taken home. The trial continues.