Rape accused tells jury he believed girl was 19

An Afghan man accused of raping a 12-year-old girl has told a court he believed her claim to be aged 19.

Ahmad Mulakhil said he had not forced the girl to do anything, had not threatened her family, and had filmed part of what happened on 22 July in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, because she had insisted.

Mulakhil, 23, admitted oral rape but denies two other counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault, child abduction and taking indecent images of a child.

His co-defendant Mohamamed Kabir, 24, denies intentional strangulation, committing an offence with intent to commit a sexual offence and attempting to take a child.

Addressing jurors through a Dari interpreter during the trial on Tuesday, Mulakhil said he had arrived in the UK about four months before he was arrested.

He told the court he had been living in Nuneaton for about six weeks, having made an immigration application regarding "problems that I had in Afghanistan".

The trial has been told Mulakhil engaged in sexual activity with the girl, who cannot be identified, on a grassed area on a housing estate in the town.

Giving evidence, Mulakhil said at about 17:20 BST on 22 July, he had noticed his friend Kabir talking to the 12-year-old.

Adding that he had not seen Kabir strangle the girl at any point and had not done so himself either, Mulakhil told the jury he had believed her when she claimed to be 19.

"She was insisting that she wants to come to my house," he said.

"I couldn't speak [English] well so I was trying to tell her that it is not possible."

He told the court: "She was following me around. When I got there [the grassy area] I sat down.

"For some few minutes we sat together and I was telling her you should go back to your home and your mother but she was not taking it."

After using Google Translate to attempt to communicate with the girl, Mulakhil said, she began touching his arms and sexual activity then took place lasting about five seconds.

When questioned about indecent images found during the police inquiry, Mulakhil said one had been taken with the phone in his hand "but her hand was also close".

He added: "She wanted to take a photo... videos. She was insisting a lot."

Earlier, jurors were told Kabir had urged police to check CCTV footage to try to clear his name.

During the closing evidence of the Crown's case, prosecutors read a translated transcript of a phone call Kabir made to an interpreter during police efforts to communicate with him.

The court heard Kabir told the interpreter: "The girl came, she went with my friend.

"I told her 'don't come to me, please go away, don't come closer'."

He said: "Tell them [the police] to check the camera. Tell them that my heart is exploding. I am brought in here innocently."

"I sent her away. I was telling her 'don't get closer to me you are small'.

"Tell them that I have not done anything wrong."

The trial continues.

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