The 10-year-old girl who was allegedly raped and indecently assaulted by five of her classmates when she was nine told the Old Bailey that she had also been raped by a group of men in her native Jamaica before she moved to London four years ago.
Two 10-year-old boys are charged with raping the girl. They and two other boys, aged 10 and 11, are also charged with indecent assault. A fifth boy, who also allegedly raped the girl, does not face charges as he was nine at the time of the offence and under the age of criminal responsibility.
The court was not told how old the girl was when she was allegedly raped in Jamaica. She said she was raped in the home of an adult man by him and three of his friends. Asked by defence counsel, Mr Steven Kay QC, whether the man had harmed her, the girl replied: "Yes, sometimes. Sometimes he took girls to his house. "He got his friends and they hurt us and after they hurt us he beat us and he hurt us with his finger and he slapped us round the face. He hit and hit us and beat us with sticks."
Counsel repeatedly suggested that she had made up the rape allegations but the girl denied having done so. "I told you everything I know and everything I remember and everything I did. I don't make up stories," she said.
She was told by the judge, Mrs Justice Bracewell: "I don't want you to get upset. Mr Kay and others have to ask questions and I am here to see the questions are fair. If they are not I'll stop them."
As the girl was giving evidence one boy used a legal notepad to sketch reporters in the court while another sucked his thumb.
The girl broke down repeatedly during questioning and the trial was adjourned until Monday.