A jury has been told that three boys are accused of taking turns raping a 13 year old girl in bushes near a tram stop in Rochdale, with prosecutors saying part of the incident was filmed on a mobile phone and shared among the boys and others. The defendants, who were aged between 12 and 14 at the time, deny all charges.

Prosecutors told the jury at Minshull Street Crown Court that the boys, who were aged 12, 13 and 14 at the time, later circulated the footage among themselves and others. The three boys, who cannot be named for legal reasons, deny the charges they face.

The teenage girl, who also cannot be named for legal reasons, was allegedly raped just off a footpath close to Newbold tram stop in Rochdale in February 2024. Two of the boys, now 15 and 16, are on trial at Minshull Street Crown Court. The third boy, who was 12 at the time, has been deemed unfit to stand trial, the jury was told as the case opened on 3 March.

Kim Whittlestone, prosecuting, said:

"The prosecution say that these defendants acted together. She was a 13-year-old girl at the time, didn't know them, they weren't friends and they had been in her company for a very short period of time."

The jury was told the girl was "physically pushed and bent over forward" as she was raped. Ms Whittlestone said the boys then "all swapped."

She said it,

"Would have been obvious" that she "did not want this to happen."

Ms Whittlestone said it was the prosecution's case that the now 15 and 16 year olds "are guilty of rape" and that "they knew what consent meant." She said:

"You will hear in this case that as part of their defence they will say that she consented to some sexual activity and she instigated it. So, there can be no doubt that they knew what consent meant."

The trial was told that a friend who was with the girl "stepped in to stop what was happening" and the defendants ran from the scene.

Jurors were told "some" of what allegedly occurred was recorded on a mobile phone. The prosecutor said the girl was "not asked if she consented to filming."

Ms Whittlestone added:

"Later that night they circulated amongst themselves and to others that footage."

Ms Whittlestone said the third boy, who is now 14, was "an active participant in what occurred." The friend who accompanied the girl told police she heard one of the boys saying "let me have a go now," the prosecutor said. It is alleged the girl was taken into the bushes by the now 15 year old, and then joined by the other two. "The prosecution say that they took it in turns and swapped positions," Ms Whittlestone said.

She was asked if she wanted to have sex and replied "no," the jury heard. The friend who was with her heard this, the court was told.

Ms Whittlestone said the defendants "overpowered" the girl. The teenage girl explained in police interviews that she was frightened, the prosecutor said.

"She told them she felt panicked and didn't know what to do," the prosecutor added. "She said that 'her head was going 100 miles per hour' and 'it was horrible'."

The jury was told the boys were seen on CCTV in Rochdale town centre speaking with some girls before heading to the tram station. The alleged victim, who later told police she was going to McDonald's, was waiting at the stop with a friend.

They all boarded a tram and got off at Newbold, the court heard. "There is some interaction on the tram, but not consistently throughout the journey," Ms Whittlestone said, adding that the boys were "blocking" the girls' path when they left the tram.

The jury heard the girls were "manhandled by the boys."

Ms Whittlestone said: "Shortly after leaving the station the offence occurs in bushes off a pathway leading from the tram stop.

"She said it all happened in a blur in a short space of time. The prosecution say that their actions were part of a joint enterprise to rape her."

The indictment contains five counts of rape. Three of the charges apply to each individual boy, while the remaining two are alleged under joint enterprise, the jury was told. All three boys deny the allegations. The trial remains ongoing.