A TEENAGER from Rotherham was forced to have an abortion by her parents after she was gang raped in a forest, a court heard.

The girl was driven to Sherwood Forest by defendants Nabeel Kurshid and Iqlak Yousaf along with a third man, some time between August 2002 and August 2003, a jury was told.

7 Nabeel Kurshid, 34, arrives at Sheffield Crown Court Credit: SWNS:South West News Service

Michelle Colborne QC, prosecuting, said the girl - who was about 14 at the time - was bitten during the alleged attack, leaving marks on her neck.

She said that the girl was given cannabis and was "high as a kite".

Ms Colborne added: "Each defendant took turns in having sex with her.

"She was warned she had to do what she was told or she would be left there."

The prosecutor said: "The defendants ensured her compliance by giving her drugs and threatening to abandon her in the forest."

"She became pregnant as a result of the group rape. Her parents forced her to have a termination. She suffered a great deal of psychological trauma as a result."

7 Iqlak Yousaf, 33, is among those accused Credit: SWNS:South West News Service

7 Salah Ahmed El-Hakam, 38, arrives at Sheffield Crown Court today Credit: SWNS:South West News Service

Ms Colborne told the jury at Sheffield Crown Court that the teenager, who is now in her thirties, was vulnerable and had a history of being exploited.

"She was passed from one group of Asian males to another and, over time, was very seriously abused."

The prosecutor said the girl's parents found out about the alleged exploitation but were unsupportive - verbally abusing their daughter and locking her out when she arrived home late.

Kurshid and Yousaf both deny raping the girl.

Eight men have gone on trial accused of child sexual exploitation in Rotherham more than a decade ago. The court heard how girls were "lured by the excitement of friendship with older Asian youths" but then sexually assaulted and passed between men.

Prosecutor Michelle Colborne QC told Sheffield Crown Court how the trial involves what allegedly happened to five girls, who are now women in their 30s, between 1998 and 2005.

She said: "When they were in their teens, they were targeted, sexualised and, in some instances, subjected to acts of a degrading and violent nature at the hands of these men who sit in the dock."

Ms Colborne said the girls had unsettled home lives and were initially "lured by the excitement of friendship with older Asian youths".

She said: "None of them had the maturity to understand that they were being groomed and exploited."

7 Tanweer Ali, 36, is seen arriving in court this morning Credit: SWNS:South West News Service

The prosecutor said they "believed sex of some kind or other was a necessary price for friendship".

Ms Colborne said: "They were powerless to do anything about it."

The jury of nine men and three women was told how girls were given alcohol and drugs before they were passed between men in the town.

"They each suffer the emotional effects of that abuse to this day," she said.

The prosecutor said that two of the complainants are sisters who were "effectively abandoned" by both their parents when they were very young.

She said: "The girls were enthralled by older, Asian men, men who had cars and seemed exciting to them.

"They thought they were living the high life."

Ms Colborne said they were "frequently in cars stopped by the police but this did not deter the abusers".

7 Salah Ahmed El-Hakam, 38, arrives at Sheffield Crown, also with his face covered Credit: SWNS:South West News Service

She told the jury that the sisters "had already been corrupted" when they came to the attention of two of the defendants, Tanweer Ali and another who can't be named for legal reasons.

The previous exploitation had begun when one of them was as young as 11, she said.

The prosecutor said: "These sisters, like so many others, were easy to exploit because they needed to be loved."

Ms Colborne began opening the case to the jury on Tuesday morning and is due to continue her opening statement on Tuesday afternoon.

She said the alleged offences took place between 1998 and 2005.

7 Tanweer Ali, 36, also made an attempt to cover his face as he arrived in court today Credit: SWNS:South West News Service

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One defendant, who can't be identified, denies one rape, one charge of aiding and abetting rape, four indecent assaults, one charge of procuring a girl under 21 to have unlawful sexual intercourse with another, one sexual assault and one charge of supplying cannabis.

Nabeel Kurshid, 34, denies two rapes and one indecent assault.

Iqlak Yousaf, 34, denies two rapes and two indecent assault.

7 Amjal Rafiq, 38, arrives at Sheffield Crown Court Credit: SWNS:South West News Service

Tanweer Ali, 37, denies two rapes, two indecent assault and one charge of false imprisonment.

Ajmal Rafiq, 39, denies one indecent assault and one charge of false imprisonment.

Salah Ahmed El-Hakam, 39, denies one rape.

Asif Ali, 33, denies three indecent assaults.

An eighth defendant, who cannot be named, denies three rapes and one count of abducting a child.