Two teenagers robbed two escorts of their phones and took turns to rape one of them, a court has heard. Mohammed Iqbal and Zakariya Hussain, both then aged 17, entered a flat in Birmingham city centre wielding zombie knives having targeted a male sex worker who dressed as a female for his business, a jury was told.
Details of the Attack
They then forced him to sit in a shower and took 'demeaning' videos while each one then went into another room and raped the female sex worker also living at the address, it was alleged. There was an element of 'sexual sadism' about their behaviour during the two-hour ordeal, the prosecution said.
Iqbal, now 20, from Acocks Green, and Hussain, now 19, from Yardley, have pleaded guilty to robbing both escorts of mobile phones as well as falsely imprisoning the male escort. They stand trial at Birmingham Crown Court with Iqbal denying two counts of raping the female escort and Hussain denying one count of rape against the same person. The allegations date back to March 2024.
Prosecution Case
Prosecutor Oliver Wellings stated the defendants 'planned to attack and rob' the male escort. He told the court Hussain contacted him 'under the pretence of being a bona fide client', but then went to his flat with his 'partner in crime' Iqbal.
Mr Wellings continued: "Why go and see him? Obviously it was not to purchase sexual services from him. They went around armed with zombie knives. The prosecution case is he had been singled out and selected because he must have seemed to them to be an easy target." He stated the armed defendants 'pushed their way' into the flat and then pulled knives from their waistbands as the male escort ran into the bedroom of the female escort he was sharing the apartment with.
Beyond the Plan to Rob
The prosecutor told the court the defendants then 'went far beyond' their plan to rob the male escort. Mr Wellings said: "The evidence you will hear suggests they had a far more ugly purpose than simply to obtain money by robbing an escort. The evidence you will hear will tend to show there was a very strong element of sexual sadism in the way these two conducted themselves towards (the male escort). Not just to rob a transgender escort but to subject that person to sexual violence and humiliation. Their motivations were complicated."
He added that 'their criminality didn't stop' at robbing both victims and continued: "They must have recognised (the female) was a sex worker and perhaps consequently they could do to her what they wanted. The prosecution case is that's precisely what happened. They took advantage of humiliating and demeaning the transgender escort and raping the female escort who was present in the apartment."
Demeaning Videos
Mr Wellings told the court the defendants put the transgender escort in the shower cubicle so they could 'take turns' raping the female escort in a bedroom. He then said while Iqbal 'stood guard' over the male escort in the shower he filmed him and Face-timed his own friends while making 'cruel remarks' about the victim.
In one video played to the court it appeared as if Iqbal said: "Show me your face or I'm going to kick the f*** out of you." In a second video he appeared to tell the male escort he would only let him go if he had sex with the female escort. Iqbal was heard to say: "I'm going to make you straight then I'm leaving." He further ordered the escort to nod his head, pout and tell the camera 'I love you'.
Mr Wellings told the jury that it was anticipated the defendants' case would be that 'things happened in a different order'. He stated they were likely to claim they both had consensual sex with the female escort before they then went on to rob both sex workers of their phones. The trial continues.
