1:33pm Tuesday 26th March 2013
By Ben Wilkinson
THE first defendant to take the witness stand in the Oxford sex exploitation trial has denied raping and selling girls for sex at the Old Bailey this morning.
The defence case opened today after 10 weeks of prosecution evidence.
And wearing a black shirt and tie, Kamar Jamil, 27, swore on the Qu'ran before beginning his evidence.
He is one of nine men accused of running a child sex ring in the city.
The married father-of-three denies raping the alleged victim known as Girl 1 when she was aged between 12 and 15. He also denies trafficking and selling her for sex. He denies raping Girl 2 in 2006 when she was 14.
His barrister Sally O'Neill said: "You are charged, on trial, for some very serious sexual abuse of these two young women.
"Did you ever do anything to either of them of a sexual nature?"
He said: "Never."
Girl 1, now 21, claims security guard Jamil was part of a gang who drove to Shotover Woods and threatened to slit her throat before making her perform a sex act on all of them. She also claims he took her to a party to have sex with someone.
The court heard Jamil met his future wife Natalie and had their first child together while the abuse is said to have taken place. He was also helping his cousin drop children off at school in a minibus.
Jamil was born to Pakistani parents in Oxford, the jury heard. He is one of six brothers and sisters who were raised in Tawney Street - a few doors down from fellow defendants Akhtar and Anjum Dogar.
When asked about the community around Cowley Road he said: "Everyone knew each other's families and names."
Jamil told the jury he went to East Oxford Primary School and later Cheney Upper School. He worked for Royal Mail and Unipart after leaving college with an ICT qualification. He said he got the nickname "K-Dog" while at college.
He was working as a car salesman at Hartwell Ford in Kidlington when he met Natalie in early 2006, the court heard.
And he took a part time job at Domino's Pizza when she fell pregnant later that year. He met defendant Assad Hussain working there, the jury heard.
Jamil said his family also knew the family of defendant Mohammed Hussain. And he described defendant Zeeshan Ahmed as "a normal friend" after they met in 2010.
Asked if he knew brothers Mohammed and Bassam Karrar, he said: "I never knew them but I'd seen them around."
Before Jamil took the stand Miss O'Neill told the jury her client had a "limited intellectual ability".
When being cross-examined by prosecutor Noel Lucas, Jamil said he did not know who the girls were and they must have mistaken him for someone else.
The defendants deny all charges against them. The trial continues.
Nine defendents deny 66 charges. They are:
- Kamar Jamil, 27, of Aldrich Road, Summertown, Oxford, denies five rapes, two charges of conspiracy to rape, one of arranging or facilitating child prostitution, and one of trafficking for sexual exploitation.
- Akhtar Dogar, 32, of Tawney Street, East Oxford, denies five rapes, three charges of conspiracy to rape, two of arranging or facilitating child prostitution, and trafficking for sexual exploitation.
- Anjum Dogar, 31, of Tawney Street, East Oxford, denies three rapes, three charges of conspiracy to rape, two of arranging or facilitating child prostitution, and trafficking for sexual exploitation.
- Assad Hussain, 32, of Ashhurst Way, Rose Hill, Oxford, denies rape and two charges of sexual activity with a child.
- Mohammed Karrar, 38, of Cowley Road, Oxford, denies seven rapes, four charges of conspiracy to rape, two of trafficking for sexual exploitation, two of arranging or facilitating child prostitution, assault by penetration, conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child, using an instrument to procure a miscarriage, and supplying a Class A drug to another.
- Bassam Karrar, 33, of no fixed address, denies three rapes, three charges of conspiracy to rape, two charges of arranging or facilitating child prostitution, and trafficking for sexual exploitation.
- Mohammed Hussain, 24, of Horspath Road, Cowley, Oxford, denies three charges of sexual activity with a child.
- Zeeshan Ahmed, 27, of Palmer Road, Wood Farm, Oxford, denies two charges of sexual activity with a child.
- Bilal Ahmed, 26, of Suffolk Road, Maidenhead, denies sexual activity with a child.
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