Man accused of raping girls absent from trial

A man accused of raping girls after "plying them with drink and drugs" has not attended his trial at Sheffield Crown Court.

Sharam Muhamadi, 21, has denied two counts of rape and four charges of facilitating travel for exploitation.

The defendant, from Iran, was on bail and has not attended court, and the jury has been told he had "chosen to absent himself during the course of the trial".

His co-accused Bawan Harwe, from Iraq, was in the dock to listen to the evidence through an interpreter and denies eight counts of rape and ten other charges against seven girls aged between 12 and 15 in Doncaster between June and August 2024.

In a closing speech, prosecutor Claire Holmes said Harwe, 28, had "a keen interest in sex with underage girls" and described it as "an obsession".

The jury was told that both men, who lived in a flat in the Hexthorpe area and worked in nearby convenience stores, deliberately "plied the girls with drink and drugs to allow them to commit these offences" and it affected the girls by "numbing their senses so they had lower defences".

The prosecution said Harwe had used a Snapchat account advertising free cigarettes to help him "filter and recruit victims".

Holmes told the jury the girls were clear they did not consent and added that "the grooming process would have fed into feelings of embarrassment and shame".

She described Harwe and Muhamadi "working as a team" with Harwe arranging for the girls to travel from Barnsley to Doncaster and Muhamadi paying for the taxi.

The prosecution said the girls would be "trapped" in Harwe's flat with no means to leave and added that "no one was coming to help them if they screamed".

Holmes said none of the girls had consented to sex and the men could not have reasonably believed the girls were consenting to sex.

The trial heard that Muhamadi was taken into the care of social services in Bradford after entering the UK as an unaccompanied asylum seeker.

He had made a claim for asylum in 2021 at the age of 16 and was granted leave to remain in the UK in 2022, to be reviewed in 2027.

Giving evidence, Eugene Andrew from Bradford Children and Family Trust said Muhamadi had moved from Bradford to Doncaster in 2023 and had been working long shifts six days a week in a shop.

Andrew told the jury that Muhamadi was "very work focused" and that he "loved to work and never wanted to claim benefits".

Harwe has previously pleaded guilty to one count of rape of a girl under 13.

He has denied eight further counts of rape and ten other charges against seven girls including false imprisonment.

Sharam Muhamadi has denied two counts of rape and four counts of facilitating travel for exploitation.

The trial continues.

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