Murdered schoolgirl ‘was put into kebab’
By Paul Willis
The owner of a fast food shop accused of murdering a 14-year-old schoolgirl joked that she had been chopped up and put into kebabs, a court heard today.
Iyad Albattikhi, 29, is accused of killing Charlene Downes after having sex with her.
The girl went missing in November 2003 in Blackpool after kissing her mother goodbye on a Saturday evening. No trace of her body has ever been found.
A missing persons inquiry began but police later launched a murder investigation after a witness claimed to have heard Albattikhi say that he had disposed of her body in his food.
Charlene was among a group of young girls who regularly went to a back alley in the town to have sex with older men who worked in nearby fast food shops, Tim Holroyde QC, prosecuting, told the jury at Preston Crown Court.
Charlene, who had a “chaotic” home life, was expelled from school and became a “familiar figure” hanging around the shops where she would sometimes get free food, the court heard.
A witness allegedly heard Albattikhi, owner of Funny Boyz fast food shop on Dickson Road, joking with others that Charlene had “gone into the kebabs”.
“These people were talking about sex with white girls, and there was mention of having sex with Charlene,” Mr Holroyde told the court.
“Albattikhi laughed and said she was kinky and she was very small - the plainest possible indication that he was lying to the police when he said he did not know her.”
Albattikhi, a Jordanian national, is charged with murder and his co-accused, his business partner and landlord Mohammed Reveshi, 50, originally from Iran, is accused of helping to dispose of the body.
Both men deny the charges and have told police they never knew Charlene.
The trial continues.
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