Man accused of raping 12-year-old in Nuneaton told police he thought she was in her 20s, court hears
23-year old Ahmad Mulakhil and his friend 24-year-old Mohammed Kabir are on trial at Warwick Crown Court
An Afghan national accused of "targeting" and twice raping a 12-year-old girl in Nuneaton told police he believed she may have been aged in her early 20s, a jury has heard.
Ahmad Mulakhil also told officers a charge of oral rape of the girl he has admitted was his first sexual encounter and had not involved the use of force or any threats.
Transcripts of police interviews with the 23-year-old were read to the second week of a trial at Warwick Crown Court on Monday.
Prosecutors allege the 12-year-old was abducted, raped and sexually assaulted by Mulakhil and strangled by his friend Mohammad Kabir, who allegedly intended to take her away for a sexual purpose.
The girl, who cannot be identified, alleges that Mulakhil laughed and ignored her requests to stop as he attacked her on a grassed area in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, on July 22 last year.
It is alleged Mulakhil attacked the girl after 24-year-old Kabir, also originally from Afghanistan, had chatted to her on a canal bridge and grabbed her around the neck.
Mulakhil, assisted by an interpreter, told police in two interviews conducted on July 26 last year that kissing and sexual activity between him and the victim "was her desire that she wanted".
The defendant, whose replies to questions from police were read to jurors by Crown barrister Daniel Oscroft, told officers: "Because of the language barrier we couldn't understand each other that much."
Claiming the girl had "insisted", Mulakhil told the officers: "I did not have experience in the past with a girl.
"She was agreed, I was agreed too. She was insisting and she was following me. She wasn't scared.
"She was following me with her own consent."
The court heard Mulakhil told police the girl had informed his friend she was 19, and was then asked by a police officer how old she had looked to him.
Mulakhil responded: "It could be 23-24 yeah. I didn't focus that much."
He also told police that he believed the age of consent was 19-20 and that the girl "was a bit older" and could have left if she wanted to.
When asked if he understood that someone aged 12 cannot legally consent to sex, the court heard Mulakhil answered: "It's understandable - no one will have sex with a 12-year-old."
Mulakhil, of no fixed abode, denies child abduction, two counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault and taking indecent photographs of a child.
Kabir, also of no fixed address, denies intentional strangulation, committing an offence with intent to commit a sexual offence and attempting to take a child.
The trial continues on Tuesday.