Rape accused thought girl, 12, was in 20s, jury told

An Afghan man accused of "targeting" and twice raping a 12-year-old girl believed she may have been aged in her early 20s, a jury has heard.

Ahmad Mulakhil, 23, assisted by an interpreter, also told police in two interviews last July that kissing and sexual activity between him and the victim "was her desire that she wanted", Warwick Crown Court heard.

Prosecutors allege Mulakhil attacked the girl in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, on 22 July, after his friend Mohammad Kabir, also originally from Afghanistan, grabbed her around the neck.

Mulakhil has pleaded guilty to a charge of oral rape of the victim but denied the other charges against him. Kabir, 24, has denied all charges.

Mulakhil, of no fixed abode, has denied child abduction, two counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault and taking indecent photographs of a child.

Kabir, also of no fixed address, has denied intentional strangulation, committing an offence with intent to commit a sexual offence and attempting to take a child.

The victim, who cannot be identified, alleges Mulakhil laughed and ignored her requests to stop as he attacked her on a grassed area in the town.

Transcripts of the two police interviews with Mulakhil on 26 July were read to the second week of the trial.

The defendant, whose replies to questions from police were read to jurors by Crown barrister Daniel Oscroft, told officers: "Because of the language barrier we couldn't understand each other that much."

Claiming the girl had "insisted", Mulakhil told police: "I did not have experience in the past with a girl.

"She was agreed, I was agreed too. She was insisting and she was following me. She wasn't scared.

"She was following me with her own consent."

He told officers a charge of oral rape he has admitted to was his first sexual encounter and had not involved the use of force or any threats.

The court heard Mulakhil told police the girl had informed his friend she was 19, and was then asked by a police officer how old she had looked to him.

Mulakhil replied: "It could be 23-24 yeah. I didn't focus that much."

He told police he believed the age of consent was 19-20 and the girl "was a bit older" and could have left if she wanted to.

When asked if he understood someone aged 12 cannot legally consent to sex, the court heard Mulakhil answered: "It's understandable - no-one will have sex with a 12-year-old."

The trial continues on Tuesday.

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