Footballers Deny Raping Teenager

A professional footballer and five aspiring players subjected a teenager to a 24-hour sex ordeal, a court heard.

Grimsby Town’s Terrell Forbes, 23, denies one count of rape in connection with the attack on 4 and 5 March 2004.

Kingston Crown Court heard the 15-year-old was raped “many, many times” at a flat in Brockley, south- east London.

Philip Mighton, 23, Darren Wallace, 23, Ashley Campbell, 21, Shane Sutherland, 21, and Kevin George, 21, all from south London, also deny rape charges.

Prosecuting counsel Nicholas Atkinson, QC, told the jury: “You will hear from the victim that she was indecently assaulted, that she was raped many, many times during the course of almost a day in March this year.”

He said that the girl had been befriended by Mr Sutherland some months earlier and that he approached her before the attack, inviting her to a flat.

The court heard that they had been known to each other for a month and had previously had sex.

On 4 March Mr Sutherland picked up the girl from a youth club in Euston in order for him to give her a lift home which he often did.

But while in the car, he drove to Mr Mighton’s flat in Brockley where an “unknown number” of men visited the flat, said Mr Atkinson.

“They met on 4 March, he took her to a flat where she was to be abused and humiliated by the defendants,” he said.

On the second day of the girl’s ordeal the victim was able to text a friend. She told her that about 12 men had had sex with her, the court heard.

‘Abused and humiliated’

Her friend called the police and when the 15-year-old left the flat she was interviewed and underwent medical tests.

Mr Atkinson told the jury that DNA tests on items recovered from the flat confirmed there were more than six men involved in the abuse.

“The defendants are professional footballers or on the fringes of that world and indulged themselves in an activity where a large number of men have sex with one woman,” he told the court.

“They wanted to do that but the girl of 15 who they selected did not.”

Mr Sutherland, from Anerley, Mr Wallace, from Brockley and Mr George, from Catford all deny one count of rape.

Mr Mighton, from Brockley, denies three counts of rape and Mr Campbell also from Brockley, denies two charges of rape.

Mr Forbes was playing for west London club Queens Park Rangers at the time of the assault.

The trial was adjourned until Thursday.