AN asylum seeker rang a friend from prison and asked him to persuade a woman whom he is accused of raping to drop the allegations, a court was told.

A jury at Bolton Crown Court yesterday heard a transcript of a phone call made by Allah Karam while he was in custody in Forest Bank prison.

During the call, Karam asks Shahin Mohamed to see the woman and get her to refuse to go to court.

Karam, aged 28, of Mancroft Avenue, Daubhill is accused of raping two women, attempting to rape and sexually assault a 14-year-old girl, sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy and perverting the course of justice, charges which he denies.

Giving evidence, Karam, an Iraqi Kurd who came to Britain in 2002, denied he had wanted his friend to put pressure on the woman to drop her allegations.

“I wanted the truth,” he said.

Karam, who worked in a frozen food factory, told the court he came to England to avoid the fighting in Iraq and lived in Cheetham Hill and Wakefield before coming to Bolton.

He said part of the money he earned was sent to his mother and sisters in Iraq. He also admitted that he sometimes drank and smoked cannabis.

When questioned by his barrister, Benjamin Myers, he strenuously denied the rape and sexual assault allegations against him.

“I swear by Almighty God I have never raped anyone in my life. I am 28 years old and have never thought about it,” he said.

The case continues.