Three men accused of raping teenage girls in Plymouth

The next potential grooming gang trial. A small gang, from Plymouth in Devon. There have always been tough areas in Plymouth, it being an important Naval base and dockyard for the last 500 years. But it shows that this abuse is not confined to northern industrial and post industrial towns. From the Plymouth Herald. 

Three of the four men who appeared in court on Wednesday are alleged to have plied teenage girls with alcohol and drugs at a property in Plymouth before raping them.

Four men have appeared at court charged with a number of offences following an investigation by Devon and Cornwall Police into alleged child sexual exploitation. It is understood the arrests and charges are the result of a long-running investigation by officers, dating back to 2016, which has now led to the four men appearing at Plymouth Magistrates’ Court.

Prosecutor Dominic Tucker explained that the cases were interlinked by way of the defendants, the victims and the location – which he stated was a property in Alexandra Close. As such the four cases would be heard as one for a trial, although magistrates were asked to deal with each man in turn in their court.

Abalzaq Salih, aged 30, and from Harwell Court, Plymouth appeared charged with two counts of raping a girl aged under 15…

Saif Kahya, aged 31 and from Mabely View, Liverpool, appeared accused of one count of rape of a girl aged over 16…

Another man – who cannot be named at this stage for legal reasons – appeared at court charged with one count of non-penetrative sexual activity with a child …

A fourth man, Moussa Ahmadou, aged 43 and from Plymouth appeared before magistrates charged with one count of sexual assault on a female …

All four men were told they were will next appear at Plymouth Crown Court for a plea and trial preparation hearing on July 10.

Hopefully they won’t join the missing defendants who have never appeared in a public list and whose outcome has never been reported.