A teenage girl fought off the advances of an alleged sexual predator in an Ilford hotel hours before he allegedly raped her friend, a court heard today.

Nabeel Ahmed, 24, of Chadwell Heath Lane, is one of five men on trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court accused of being part of a child prostitution ring that targeted “vulnerable” girls from a care home.

A witness, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the jury Nabeel gave her alcohol and tried to kiss and touch her before she fought him off.

Aged 16 at the time, she had met him through a friend at the care home who she said was working at a prostitute for Naeem Ahmed, of Westminster Gardens, Barking.

She told the court that Nabeel and Naeem, who are not related, picked the two girls up from their home and took them to the Park Hotel, in Cranbrook Road, Ilford, on a night in January last year.

She said: “Obviously they wanted sex but from me that wasn’t going to happen – they weren’t going to get anything from me.”

The group lay on the bed chatting and drinking until Nabeel made a move on her, she said.

She told the jury: “I told him there wasn’t enough room on the bed and to sit in the chair but he wouldn’t.

“He tried touching my leg and kissing me but I told him no.”

Shortly afterwards, the girl escaped the hotel on the pretence of getting more alcohol, leaving and her friend with the three men.

Prosecutor Kate Bex said another girl from the care home was brought to the hotel to have sex with Nabeel but fell asleep.

The remaining 17-year-old, who prosecutors said had been coerced into prostitution by her boyfriend Naeem, was then allegedly held down and raped first by Nabeel and then by his brother Jameel Ahmed, of Neville Road, Dagenham.

An Essex care home executive, who was later told about the alleged prostitution by another girl who had left the home, said many children in care have low self-worth and believe they can find affection through sexual contact.

He told the court: “They will cling on to anyone who gives them affection.

“It makes them very vulnerable and unscrupulous people can manipulate and exploit them.”

Nabeel denies three counts of rape and his brother Jameel, 25, denies two.

Naeem, 25, denies five counts of rape, controlling child prostitution, paying for the sexual services of a child, inciting child prostitution and causing prostitution for a gain.

Anas Iqbal, 25, of Newham Way, East Ham, denies six counts of rape and paying for the sexual services of a child.

Hassan Raza, 23, also of Westminster Gardens, Barking, denies a single count of sexual assault.

The trial continues.