Anthony Harrison, 32, is alleged to have raped two girls in Britain after they had been subjected to an extraordinary African black magic ritual by a people-smuggling gang.
The terrifying ceremony was performed in Nigeria by a Juju priest to trap the girls into a life of sex slavery, it was said.
Anthony Harrison, 32, is alleged to have raped two girls in Britain after they had been subjected to an extraordinary African black magic ritual by a people-smuggling gang.
During the ritual, a 16-year-old girl was taken to a shrine where she was stripped naked by two men and slashed dozens of times with a razor so the priest could collect her blood which was placed in a coffin, Woolwich Crown Court heard.
In a terrifying ordeal 'little short of torture', the girl's body hair was shaved off, her arms were bound behind her back and she was forced to lie naked and covered in blood in another coffin, jurors were told.
The victim also allegedly had to eat the raw heart of a freshly slaughtered chicken as part of the spell by the priest, who told her that he had access to her soul and if she did not obey his commands he could visit her in her dreams and 'kill her from within'.
In another ritual, a 14-year-old girl was made to swear an oath of loyalty to a Juju medicine man who took her to a river and told her to eat some white clay, having passed a rock from his mouth to hers.to read more go.
The youngster was instructed to wash with black soap and also given a raw chicken's heart to eat, it was said.
In court: Anthony Harrison, 32, is alleged to be a 'key player' in a Nigerian people smuggling gang who used African black magic to terrify two young girls
Riel Karmy-Jones, prosecuting, said: 'Anthony Harrison is, we suggest, a key player in what is undoubtedly a sophisticated and organised criminal network of West African people traffickers who have been operating in the UK.'
Harrison, who led a double life as a caretaker for Newham Council in East London, allegedly had at least seven aliases. Police still do not know his real identity.
He arrived in Britain from Nigeria in April 2003, falsely claiming to be a Liberian national. Although he was refused asylum and his appeals failed, he was later granted indefinite leave to remain.
The court heard that the girls hailed from very poor backgrounds in Edo, Nigeria. The 14-year-old victim had been abandoned as a baby and was raised as a 'domestic drudge' in a single-roomed hut, before being sold into prostitution.
The elder girl was brought up by her uncle who sexually abused her.
Miss Karmy-Jones said: 'The two young women concerned were little more than children when they were trafficked into this country.' They were allegedly 'groomed' by their handlers and given 'scripts' to tell UK immigration staff that they were claiming asylum, having been forced to flee their country because they were accused of being lesbians.
Under her handler's instructions, the 16-year-old later absconded from a children's home to meet up with Harrison, it was claimed.
Harrison is said to have threatened to kill her if she went to the police. He allegedly forced her to sleep outside, starved her and plied her with alcohol before raping her. He is also accused of raping and beating the 14-year-old.
Harrison, of Stratford, East London, denies counts of conspiracy to traffic people for sexual exploitation; two counts of false imprisonment; two counts of rape; and four counts of conspiracy to facilitate breaches of immigration law.
The trial continues.
On trial: Harrison, 32, is alleged to be a 'key player' in a Nigerian people smuggling gang who used African black magic to terrify two young girls
The court heard that in Nigeria where Juju is a greatly feared magic or medicine, the ceremonies 'bind' the victims to the priest and ensure they would be too frightened to go to police.
The girls were later flown to Britain in 2009 on false documents where Harrison is alleged to have raped them before trying to pass them on to traffickers in Spain and Greece to work in the sex industry.
