A 15-year-old girl was raped by a man after he dragged her down a Burnley back street late at night, a jury was told.

The girl, who had earlier been with friends at a youth club, was said to have been walking alone up the slope to Daneshouse Road, speaking to a friend on her mobile, when Muhaamed Ansari, 34, struck next to a mosque, Burnley Crown Court heard.

The hearing was told how the alleged victim, who told police she had had a litre and a half of vodka, was said to have arrived home just after midnight crying and shaking after the incident in February last year.

Ansari was arrested the next day when he pulled up to speak to a police officer who was driving the 15-year-old around the area to see if she could identify her alleged attacker. Ansari, of Allen Street, Burnley, denies rape.

The jury was told Ansari allegedly took the girl’s mobile phone off her, turned it off and gave it her back.

He is said to have raped her on a pathway which ran between the mosque and sheltered housing in Hebrew Road.

He is said to have asked her to commit a sex act after the alleged attack, but she refused.

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