A SEX abuse gang plied vulnerable underage girls with alcohol and drugs before “farming them out” to be raped and sexually abused, a court heard.

Mohammed Rostami, 37, and Amin Kaveh, 35, both of The Renown, Shoebury, are standing trial alongside three other Iranian men.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard their alleged victims were as young as 13 when they were first exploited for sex.

Christopher Paxton, prosecuting, said: “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.”

The case involves three female victims, one who was already working as a 16-year-old prostitute in Southend when she met drug dealer Kaveh as a client.

She was hooked on mephedrone and ended up ‘working’ from Kaveh’s flat for up to four hours a day - sometimes being paid with up to 10g of the drug.

The court heard another victim was just 13-years-old when she began being abused in Chelmsford in 2006.

Rostami began a sexual relationship with her after getting her hooked on cannabis and cocaine, and is alleged to have raped her between August 2007 and August 2009.

He then forced her to have sex with other men.

When he lost interest in the teenage girl, he passed her to Mehdi Zare, 32, of Lupin Drive, Chelmsford - who raped her and also forced her to work as a prostitute.

The court heard Kaveh used violence and threats against a third victim to rape her and force her into having sex with dozens of other Iranian men.

On one occasion Kaveh is alleged to have forced the 15-year-old to take drugs by threatening to “push her face” into a pile of white powder, before sexually assaulting her.

The court heard the gang would drive the girls around Essex and London to be abused.

Rostami is charged with two counts of sexual activity with a child, one count of causing or inciting sexual exploitation of a child, one count of rape and three counts of supplying a controlled drug.

Kaveh is charged with three counts of supplying a controlled drug, one count of sexual assault, three counts of rape, one count of causing or inciting prostitution and one count of controlling prostitution.

Zare is charged with three counts of sexual activity with a child, one count of arranging or facilitating sexual exploitation of a child, and three counts of supplying a controlled drug.

Taxi driver Mehdi Khashi, 32, of Rookes Crescent, Chelmsford, is charged with one count of rape.

Mohammed Zarei, 32, also a taxi driver, of Delamere Road, Chelmsford, is charged with one count of rape.

All the offences are alleged to have taken place between August 2006 and September 2014.

The trial continues.