A 14-year-old girl was murdered by a fast food restaurateur who later joked that she had been “chopped up” and had gone into the kebabs, Preston Crown Court was told yesterday.

Charlene Downes, who had been expelled from school, kissed her mother goodbye three and half years ago and “vanished off the face of the earth”, the jury was told.

She was one of a number of young white girls who congregated around a district of Asian food shops in Blackpool and had sex with the older workers.

Tim Holroyde, QC, opening for the prosecution, told the court that Charlene had been killed by Iyad Albattikhi, 29, owner of Funny Boyz fast food shop and known locally as Eddie, who boasted of having sex with the teenager whom he described as “kinky”.

A missing persons inquiry was launched after her disappearance but was stepped up to a full murder investigation after information “leaked out” that the teenager had been “killed and chopped up”.

Mr Holroyde said that Charlene was a happy teenager but her home life was chaotic. She lacked parental control and spent her life hanging about the shops along the promenade and North Pier. She was last seen early in the evening of Saturday November 1, 2003. Since then, no trace of her body has been found.

The jury was told that since then she had never made contact with her family or friends, never come to the attention of police elsewhere, claimed benefits or received NHS treatment. It was inconceivable that she is still alive, the court was told.

Mr Holroyde said that a witness, Kirsty Fletcher, who worked at another fast food restaurant, went to see her employer about her wages and heard a group of men, including Mr Albattikhi, talking about sex with white girls and mentioning Charlene.

“Kirsty says Albattikhi laughed and said she was kinky and she was very small – the plainest possible indication that he was lying to police when he said he did not know her.

“And, says Kirsty Fletcher, he and the others present were then laughingly saying that Charlene had gone into the kebabs.”

Mr Albattikhi denied murdering the teenager. Mohammed Reveshi, 50, his business partner and co-accused, has pleaded not guilty to helping to dispose of the body.

The prosecution suggests that Charlene had some sort of sexual activity with “one or both” of the defendants.

Both the accused went on to lie to the police about their involvement, the court was told. They told officers that they did not know her.

The court was told that Mr Albattikhi fell out with his brother who later told a witness, David Cassidy, that he knew what had happened to Charlene. He said that she had been killed and chopped up and there had been a lot of blood.

The prosecution say that Mr Albattikhi later warned Mr Cassidy that he would be dealt with if he told anyone and, allegedly, later offered him an interest-free £20,000 loan from Mr Reveshi to buy his silence.

But Mr Cassidy went to the police in December 2004. Officers bugged the men’s flats and Mr Reveshi’s car. Although the tapes were hard to decipher, Mr Holroyde said that parts of the tape were reveal-ing.v In one tape, Mr Reveshi speaks of his “surprise” that the police were investigating because “Charlene Downes was not even from a decent or important family”. In another tape, Mr Reveshi said the words “eat the body”, the court was told.

Mr Holroyde stressed that there were differences of opinion between police and the prosecution sound expert over what was said on the tapes. But both agreed that on one tape Mr Albattikhi said he “killed” while talking about Charlene.

The tapes also revealed Mr Reveshi speaking about “checking the burial place” and at one stage he broke down, sobbing “I can’t cope”.

The trial continues.

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