Sheffield, UK: Girls as young as twelve were plied with drugs and alcohol before being sold as prostitutes by a woman who pretended they were her sisters, a court heard.
Amanda Spencer, 22, allegedly befriended nine vulnerable victims - many of whom were in care or reported missing - on the streets of Sheffield.
She then gave the girls drugs and alcohol before introducing them to men who 'in various ways exploited them sexually', Sheffield Crown Court was told.
She would allegedly tell the men the girls were much older than they were and that they were her sisters, jurors heard.
Spencer of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, denies 38 offences relating to the prostitution of eight children.
She is jointly charged with Kareem Ahmed, 30, from Manor, Sheffield, of trafficking a ninth victim within the UK for sexual exploitation.
John MacLachlan, 66, of Sheffield and Lee Unwin, 27, of Nethergreen, Sheffield deny paying for the sexual services of a child.
Bashdar Hamadamin, 27, of Burngreave, Sheffield denies rape.
A fifth man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denies three offences of sexual assault.
The court heard how Spencer would hang around Sheffield city centre in an attempt to befriend vulnerable girls.
Prosecutor Michelle Colborn QC, said: 'All were lacking in self-esteem and the wherewithal and sense to protect themselves from being exploited.
'She made them feel loved and gave them a shoulder to cry on,'
Miss Colborn alleged Spencer, who moved to the city in 2006 when she was 15, lured the girls into a 'degrading and abusive' life.
She continued: 'She was a friend who purported to understand whatever situations they were experiencing in their lives and helped lure them into a life of abuse.
'She called them her sisters or cousins when she was asked by people in authority.
'All the children knew they were being sold for cash and their drug and alcohol addictions became so entrenched they were unable to extricate themselves.
'Amanda Spencer told them to dress provocatively and lie about their age and close their minds to sexual exploitation and concentrate on the drugs.'
If any of the girls stood up to Spencer, they were greeted with violence, Miss Colborn said.
One 16-year-old girl told police she had first met Spencer at Castle Market when she was ten in late 2005. They chatted - and Spencer took her to a project for homeless youngsters.
'The girl thought Amanda Spencer was her friend and she thought she would protect her,' said Miss Colborn. 'She gave her alcohol and weed and was treated very well for a couple of months.
'However, Spencer changed character from supportive to threatening which is a feature of her personality.'
When the girl was older, she was plied with Mad Dog - a slang term for MDMA - and vodka at the house of an older man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and he groped her. The man gave Spencer £30 when they left.
Spencer introduced three other girls to the older man. He allegedly sexually assaulted them at his home while she was there.
The girl was also taken by Spencer to Sheffield's red light area and told to stand by the side of the road and wait to be picked up by men.
She later started getting into men's cars and the victim said of one occasion: 'This was the day that Amanda Spencer got me to do anything with anybody.' Spencer would threaten to 'bang her' if she refused, she claimed.
Miss Colborn went on: 'In due course Amanda Spencer became more aggressive and controlling, she would shout at her and dictate her life, what to do and what to wear.
'She would apply make-up to make her look older and alcohol and cannabis were her daily diet.'
Spencer allegedly took the girl to men's houses for sex and told her to say she was 18 or 19. 'All the time this was happening she wanted to get home to her mother,' said Miss Colborn.
One girl who met Spencer when she was 15 was forced to have sex with half a dozen men one after the other, it was alleged.
Spencer told the girl they would get between £200 and £300 for this. 'She told her they would be able to buy more drugs if they had the money,' said Miss Colborn.
They went to a shared house for Kurdish asylum seekers none of whom could speak English and Spencer told her to sleep with the men.
'She was forced to have sex with them one after another,' said Miss Colborn.
'When it came to the last man she said it was hurting her and she was punched across the face and relented.'
The girl later said: 'That were it. I did them all in one go. I were telling her "no" then she would punch me.'
Miss Colborn said about Spencer: 'She never seemed to have sex herself, telling the girl the men preferred her.'
Another victim who was 13 at the time voluntarily became involved in prostitution when Spencer told her she was making a lot of money having sex with men.
The girl was taken to a house with five Asian men. She was a virgin and agreed to have sex for £80 with a man in his 30s. 'She told them she was 13 and this seemed to make them happy,' said Miss Colborn.
Spencer then found partners for her on a regular basis. 'The men knew she was under age and accordingly paid large amounts of money to have sex with her.'
One girl was told by Spencer to have sex with Lee Unwin, 26, at his home after they met in Sheffield city centre.
Another of the girls allegedly twice had sex with John McLachlan, 55, in Sheffield's Castle Market. It is claimed he paid Spencer on each occasion.
All the offences are alleged to have happened in the Sheffield area between 2006 and 2011. Spencer was quizzed over child abduction in October 2010 and finally arrested in May 2012.
The case continues.
Amanda Spencer, 22, allegedly befriended nine vulnerable victims - many of whom were in care or reported missing - on the streets of Sheffield.
She then gave the girls drugs and alcohol before introducing them to men who 'in various ways exploited them sexually', Sheffield Crown Court was told.
She would allegedly tell the men the girls were much older than they were and that they were her sisters, jurors heard.
Spencer of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, denies 38 offences relating to the prostitution of eight children.
 |
| Ahmed |
John MacLachlan, 66, of Sheffield and Lee Unwin, 27, of Nethergreen, Sheffield deny paying for the sexual services of a child.
Bashdar Hamadamin, 27, of Burngreave, Sheffield denies rape.
A fifth man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denies three offences of sexual assault.
The court heard how Spencer would hang around Sheffield city centre in an attempt to befriend vulnerable girls.
Prosecutor Michelle Colborn QC, said: 'All were lacking in self-esteem and the wherewithal and sense to protect themselves from being exploited.
 |
| Amanda Spencer |
'She made them feel loved and gave them a shoulder to cry on,'
Miss Colborn alleged Spencer, who moved to the city in 2006 when she was 15, lured the girls into a 'degrading and abusive' life.
She continued: 'She was a friend who purported to understand whatever situations they were experiencing in their lives and helped lure them into a life of abuse.
'She called them her sisters or cousins when she was asked by people in authority.
'All the children knew they were being sold for cash and their drug and alcohol addictions became so entrenched they were unable to extricate themselves.
'Amanda Spencer told them to dress provocatively and lie about their age and close their minds to sexual exploitation and concentrate on the drugs.'
If any of the girls stood up to Spencer, they were greeted with violence, Miss Colborn said.
One 16-year-old girl told police she had first met Spencer at Castle Market when she was ten in late 2005. They chatted - and Spencer took her to a project for homeless youngsters.
'The girl thought Amanda Spencer was her friend and she thought she would protect her,' said Miss Colborn. 'She gave her alcohol and weed and was treated very well for a couple of months.
'However, Spencer changed character from supportive to threatening which is a feature of her personality.'
When the girl was older, she was plied with Mad Dog - a slang term for MDMA - and vodka at the house of an older man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and he groped her. The man gave Spencer £30 when they left.
Spencer introduced three other girls to the older man. He allegedly sexually assaulted them at his home while she was there.
The girl was also taken by Spencer to Sheffield's red light area and told to stand by the side of the road and wait to be picked up by men.
She later started getting into men's cars and the victim said of one occasion: 'This was the day that Amanda Spencer got me to do anything with anybody.' Spencer would threaten to 'bang her' if she refused, she claimed.
Miss Colborn went on: 'In due course Amanda Spencer became more aggressive and controlling, she would shout at her and dictate her life, what to do and what to wear.
'She would apply make-up to make her look older and alcohol and cannabis were her daily diet.'
Spencer allegedly took the girl to men's houses for sex and told her to say she was 18 or 19. 'All the time this was happening she wanted to get home to her mother,' said Miss Colborn.
One girl who met Spencer when she was 15 was forced to have sex with half a dozen men one after the other, it was alleged.
Spencer told the girl they would get between £200 and £300 for this. 'She told her they would be able to buy more drugs if they had the money,' said Miss Colborn.
They went to a shared house for Kurdish asylum seekers none of whom could speak English and Spencer told her to sleep with the men.
 |
| Amanda Spencer |
'When it came to the last man she said it was hurting her and she was punched across the face and relented.'
The girl later said: 'That were it. I did them all in one go. I were telling her "no" then she would punch me.'
Miss Colborn said about Spencer: 'She never seemed to have sex herself, telling the girl the men preferred her.'
Another victim who was 13 at the time voluntarily became involved in prostitution when Spencer told her she was making a lot of money having sex with men.
The girl was taken to a house with five Asian men. She was a virgin and agreed to have sex for £80 with a man in his 30s. 'She told them she was 13 and this seemed to make them happy,' said Miss Colborn.
Spencer then found partners for her on a regular basis. 'The men knew she was under age and accordingly paid large amounts of money to have sex with her.'
One girl was told by Spencer to have sex with Lee Unwin, 26, at his home after they met in Sheffield city centre.
Another of the girls allegedly twice had sex with John McLachlan, 55, in Sheffield's Castle Market. It is claimed he paid Spencer on each occasion.
All the offences are alleged to have happened in the Sheffield area between 2006 and 2011. Spencer was quizzed over child abduction in October 2010 and finally arrested in May 2012.
The case continues.
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