AN AFGHAN asylum seeker is on trial accused of sexual activity with a schoolgirl.

Zia Maroofkhail is accused of striking up a relationship with the youngster, who was 14 at the time, before having sex with her.

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The 28-year-old defendant, formerly of Blackburn, denies five counts of sexual activity with a child under 16.

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the jury at Preston Crown Court she believed the defendant was her ‘boyfriend’ and said he told her he loved her.

The court heard how they first met in a park in Blackburn, when Maroofkhail ‘winked’ at her.

The girl told the judge how she visited relatives every weekend and that she thought the defendant must have waited for her near there.

The first time they spoke was in an alleyway, the court was told.

The complainant told the court how the two would then chat and arrange to meet by sending messages on Skype.

When they got together, they would have sex, she said.

The girl said: “I said I am 14, but he does not believe me. He said 15, 16, 17.

“He knows I go to school.”

The teenager told the court that the pair had sex at his house, her house, in an alley and in a field. When they met at his house, it was before school.

The youngster, who admitted she ‘liked’ the defendant, added that if she ever told Maroofkhail, who she knew as Shir Walli, that she did not want to have sex, he would threaten to leave.

The jury was told that DNA from Maroofkhail’s semen was found in two items of the alleged victim’s underwear, as well as on a brown sofa, which she claimed they had sex on.

The defendant had denied the pair had met in person and that the DNA must have been planted by a conspirator.

However, he later conceded that they did have sex, but only twice.

Simon Mintz, defending, said his client and the girl did not meet in a park.

He told the court: “They met on Skype in fact. “He would say they only knew each other for a couple of months, not the couple of years she describes.

“She turned up out of the blue at his home, walked in, told him she loved him, wanted to marry him and run away with him.

“This was not a full-blown affair.

“It was a short relationship where intercourse took place twice and where she told him that she was 16 going on 17.”

The court was also told how the girl had reported being abused by three men and that she was unhappy at home.