´óÏó´«Ã½

Four men used two 15-year-old care home girls as a "sexual resource for their own gratification", a court heard.

The girls were picked up from the home near Wrexham, taken to hotels and given alcohol between December 2011 and April 2012, jurors at Mold Crown Court heard.

John Delaney, 33, denies rape, trafficking in the UK for sexual exploitation and sexual assault.

John Purcell, 31, and Todd Wickens, 28, deny rape and trafficking charges. John McGrath, 27, denies rape.

The court was told the four men, who are all members of the travelling community, face a total of 19 charges between them.

The prosecution have alleged they would collect young girls from a children's home which was near a caravan site.

"The defendants well knew how old those girls were and, indeed, seemed to be excited by their extreme youth," prosecutor John Philpotts said.

"They also knew that, though they submitted, those girls did not truly or genuinely consent to what was done to them.

The court was told of times when other men turned up to abuse the girls, and none drank alcohol.

Mr Philpotts added: "Often, the girls would be so intoxicated that they were powerless to resist whatever was happening to them."

He told jurors one of the complainants said she felt she "had to" do the things that were done to her.

The trial, which is expected to last four weeks, continues.