Vulnerable girls ‘sold into prostitution by teenager’

Amanda Spencer, now 22, is accused of exploiting nine girls, some as young as 11 and most in the care system, before forcing them into a life of alcohol, drugs and sex.

Michelle Colborne told a jury at Sheffield Crown Court yesterday that Spencer would tell them to lie about their age and dress provocatively. She would allegedly pocket the cash earned by the girls, seeing it as “far more productive and profitable to co-ordinate a pool of prostitutes, than to work for drug money all by herself”.

Miss Colborne said: “Many of the victims in this case were in the care system or marked as ‘missing from home’ at the relevant time, those still at home experiencing difficulties to varying degrees.

“All were lacking in self esteem and the wherewithal or sense to protect themselves from exploitation.”

Spencer, from Rotherham, denies a string of charges, including arranging or facilitating a child sexual offence, inciting or causing a child to become a prostitute and arranging or facilitating the prostitution.

She is on trial alongside five men who are charged with offences connected with the alleged abuse of the girls – who ranged from the ages of 11 and 20. Lee Unwin, 26, of Nether Green Road, Nether Green, and John McLachlan, 65, of Downham Road, Firth Park, deny paying for the sexual service of a child. McLachlan is too ill to attend court.

Kareem Ahmed, 29, of Manor Park Centre, Manor, is accused of arranging or facilitating travel for the commission of a sexual offence, and Bashdar Hamadamin, 26, of Rock Street, Burngreave, faces a charge of rape. They deny the charges.

A fifth man, who cannot be named, denies three counts of sexual assault, one on a child under the age of 13. The alleged offences are said to have taken place between 2006 and 2011 in the Sheffield area.

Miss Colborne told the jury that Spencer referred to girls she was allegedly exploiting as her sisters or cousins “when asked to account for who they were by people in authority”.

She said: “Although the children knew they were being sold for cash, their own drug and alcohol addiction sere so entrenched that they were incapable to extricate themselves. She told them how to dress more provocatively, to lie about their age and to close their minds to the reality of the sexual experiences, concentrating instead on the drugs.”

She added: “A likely issue for you to consider from the start is whether Amanda Spencer was a victim herself.. whether having a troubled start, she turned that situation on its head and lured others into a similar life for her own ends.”

The trial continues.