Rochdale care worker tells court underage girls were his ‘friends with benefits’

July 18, 2023

Some further reporting of the trial of the eight men from Rochdale currently on trial at Crown Court Minshull Street is permitted. From the Guardian.

A care worker accused of grooming and exploiting two underage girls in Rochdale has told a court they were his “friends with benefits” and he thought they were over 16.

Jahn Shahid Ghani, 50, said he was about 32 when he had ecstasy-fuelled sex with the girls when they were only 14 or 15 – including threesomes with one of his adult girlfriends.

He told Manchester Minshull Street crown court that he thought the complainants were over the age of consent because they had jobs and wore makeup. . . He said he was friends with Girl A until his arrest in 2016, and he accused her of lying about him “for financial reasons”, in order to get compensation.

Girl A told the jury she was 14 when first met Jahn in the winter of 2004 via his younger half-brother, Mohammed Faisal Ghani, who is also on trial. Jahn is the only one of the eight defendants to give evidence so far.

Another woman has also given evidence about having sex with Girl A and Jahn together at another flat in the Whitworth area of Rochdale.

Jahn admitted to several such threesomes but said he thought Girl A was over 16 at the time.

He said the sexual relationship with Girl B lasted about two months, coming to an end when he developed genital warts. “My penis went half black and I was out of commission for six to eight weeks,” he told the jury. Sadly it doesn’t seem to have dropped off.

Jahn Shahid Ghani denies 17 sexual offences and Mohammed Faisal Ghani denies 21. These include rape, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and penetrative activity with a child. The eight defendants deny a total of 80 charges.

The trial continues.