Oxford exploitation trial: Jury considers verdict
The jury at the trial of nine men accused of grooming and sexually exploiting children in Oxford has retired to consider its verdict.
The men deny 47 charges including rape, arranging child prostitution and trafficking, relating to girls aged between 11 and 15 from 2004 to 2012.
The court heard the men, aged between 24 and 38, targeted vulnerable girls from troubled backgrounds.
The trial, at the Old Bailey in London, began in January.
Jurors were sent home at the end of Thursday afternoon and are due to continue their deliberations on Friday morning.
During the trial the jury heard victims were plied with alcohol and drugs before being raped, sometimes by several men.
The defendants are:
- Kamar Jamil, 27, formerly of Aldrich Road, Oxford
- Akhtar Dogar, 32, of Tawney Street, Oxford; and his brother Anjum Dogar, 30, of Tawney Street, Oxford
- Assad Hussain, 32, of Ashurst Way, Oxford
- Mohammed Karrar, 38, of Kames Close, Oxford; and his brother Bassam Karrar, 33, of Hundred Acres Close, Oxford
- Mohammed Hussain, 24, of Horspath Road, Oxford
- Zeeshan Ahmed, 27, of Palmer Road, Oxford
- Bilal Ahmed, 26, of Suffolk Road, Maidenhead