Leazes Park sex attack: Man 'molested 14-year-old girl then joined attack on friend'
An attacker put his hand over a girl's mouth as he molested her in a Newcastle park before he joined in another sexual assault on her friend, a court heard.
Mohammed Alfrouh took selfies with the 14-year-old girl before he forced her against a tree, groped her and pulled his pants down, she told police.
After she managed to get away, 20-year-old Alfrouh was said to have walked behind the pavilion in Leazes Park, and joined two of his friends in an attack on her 14-year-old school friend.
Newcastle Crown Court was played a recording of an interview the complainant gave to police in which she claimed the same man had kissed her on the lips and cheek the day previously.
She said a group of men had approached them on May 9 as the girls were by the see-saw and asked if they could play with them''.
The girls went back to the park on May 10 after school and saw the group of men, who then followed them.
Her friend was led behind the pavilion by one man, and then Alfrouh got her in a tight squeeze'', put his sunglasses on her head and asked for a selfie, the jury heard.
He took a series of photos of them together, the court was told.
The complainant said in her interview: I was a bit uncomfortable on the selfies. He pushed us (me) on the tree, held us against it.
He went 'come behind the hut for a few minutes'. Because I refused he put his hands down my pants.''
Alfrouh kissed her and groped her, she said. I was saying 'Stop it. Get off us.' He put his hand on my mouth.''
The detective asked: Were you saying it loudly?''
The girl replied: Not really.''
She said he tried to undress, she managed to get away and ran to a bus stop in the city centre.
There she met her friend who told police she was sexually assaulted by three men behind the hut.
The girl told the detective her friend was comforted by a woman at the bus stop, saying she had been raped'' and that she wascrying her eyes out''.
The girl claimed the three defendants walked past them at the bus stop, laughing.
Cross-examined by Sue Hirst, for Alfrouh, the girl broke down in tears when she was asked why she told the detective Alfrouh had kissed her on the lips on the Monday, when she was now telling the jury it was on the cheek.
Alfrouh, 20, of no fixed address, denies three counts of sexual assault.
Omar Badreddin, 18, of Ryal Walk, Kenton Bar, and Mohammed Allakkoud, 18, of Tamworth Road, Newcastle, deny a single charge of sexual assault, said to have been on the other girl behind the hut.
The trial continues.