Second Mother Turned into Madam to Pakistanis

Witness in Rotherham child sexual abuse trial:

'We were like slaves all the time'

A witness in the Rotherham child sexual abuse trial said she and other girls were treated “like sex slaves.”

Now an adult, the witness said she had gone to live with Karen MacGregor in the 1980s, but that the woman she thought of as a “second mother” betrayed hers and the other girls’ trust.

She said: "I thought she was my second mother but it turned out I was totally wrong."

Ms MacGregor, 58, is accused of the making undergage girls available for sex with older men. The men predominantly from Pakistani origin.

I thought she was my second mother 

but it turned out I was totally wrong

Witness

In a recorded interview with the police, played out in court today, the witness recalled of Ms MacGregor taking her upstairs one night with an Asian man.

The witness, who had been drinking that night, said she woke up to find a man sexually assaulting her.

The girl said the man ran away as soon as she started screaming, but that no one came to her rescue.

She said: "She must have known. Why didn't she come upstairs?"

Defendant leaving court (left) witnesses (right)

The girls were allegedly forced to have sex with mostly 

Asian men over a number of years

The defendants, all from Asian origin, have been identified as:

Arshid Hussain, 40, High Street, East Cowick, Goole, faces 30 charges, including five counts of rape.

Qurban Ali, 53, Clough Road, Rotherham, faces four charges, including rape and conspiracy to rape.

Majid Bostan, 37, Ledsham Road, Rotherham faces one charge of indecent assault.

Sajid Bostan, 38, Broom Avenue, Rotherham faces seven charges, including four counts of rape,.

Basharat Hussain, 39, of no fixed abode, faces 16 charges including two counts of rape.

Karen MacGregor, 58, Barnsley Road, Wath, South Yorkshire, faces three charges, including conspiracy to rape.

Shelley Davies, 40, Wainwright Road, Kimberworth Park, Rotherham, faces three charges, including conspiracy to rape.

In addition to having been forced to sleep with strange men, the witness said she and other girls were forced to perform house work and were not allowed to go outside.

She said: "We were on our hands and knees all the time scrubbing carpets, settee, washing curtains, washing windows, stairs, changing bedding all the time.

"We were like slaves all the time."

Ms MacGregor and six other defendants deny all the charges brought against them over a 10-year period.