A policing student lured an undergraduate back to his halls of residence, where he was subjected to humiliating violence by a gang of men who threatened to cut his fingers off, a court heard.

Karar Haider, 19, was a student at the University of Central Lancashire when he became involved in the assault and false imprisonment of the man, 19, in March.

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During the ordeal, the engineering student – who cannot be named for legal reasons – was beaten, stripped and filmed on mobile phone as the men made threats against him, Preston Crown Court was told.

One of the attackers, Adil Ajaib – known as ‘Arnie’ – had a pair of pliers and said he would chop the man’s fingers off if he did not pay money owed to him by his brother.

He said: “It’s not about money. It’s about respect.”

Opening the trial at Preston Crown Court, Michael Brady, prosecuting, told the jury the victim’s brother owed Ajaib £400 for an insurance policy.

At around 10pm on March 2, the man was studying in the university library when he received a phone call from Haider, inviting him round.

The student completed his work before heading round to Haider’s flat in Sanctuary Halls, Moor Lane.

But when he arrived he saw two other men, Daniaal Khan, 18, and Syed Shah, 19, – known as Musty – who he recognised from the Gym’ll Fix It gym in Rochdale.

The student tried to flee the flat but was chased and brought back by Shah and Khan, who were joined minutes later by Ajaib and Kashif Hussain.

The four men surrounded the student and started punching him to the head.

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He was then ordered to strip naked – or face a sexual assault.

Once naked, Ajaib filmed the student on his mobile phone and warned him if he did not have the money by the following day, the clip would be uploaded to social media.

Giving evidence from behind screens, the student said: “Arnie (Ajaib) gave Karar (Haider) £20 and said ‘thanks for co-operating with me’. Then Musty (Shah), Arnie, Danny and Kashif left.”
Haider was questioned by police firstly as a witness and later as a suspect.

He told officers he was fearful of reporting the incident at his flat as he was scared of the men.

He also said he did not want to get involved as he was worried it would affect his studies in policing.

However messages recovered from his mobile phone revealed Haider found it “amusing” the student needed medical attention and had been forced to expose his genitals, Mr Brady told the jury.

He said: “Was Mr Haider merely an unwilling party to the making of the telephone call that led the victim to attend his flat, unaware of what would happen, or was he involved in during the unsuspecting victim to his flat, not telling him that the others were visiting and knowing what it was about and aware of the purpose of the visit?”

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Ajaib, of Exeter Street, Rochdale; Shah, of Reservoir Street, Rochdale and Khan, of Exeter Street, Rochdale, and Hussain, of Mark Street, Rochdale, have all pleaded guilty to assault and false imprisonment.

Haider, of Gale Street, Rochdale, denies false imprisonment.

The trial continues.