DNA evidence revealed that a 54-year-old man impregnated a 15-year-old girl, despite him denying they had sex, a court has heard.

Jawwad Akram, from Edgware denies sexual activity with a child and facilitating the travel of another person with the view to exploitation between August and October 2021.

Harrow Crown Court heard on Tuesday that Akram repeatedly denied having sex with the teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, after he was first arrested.

The court was told that the girl later discovered she was pregnant and after she had an abortion, DNA analysis showed Akram was the biological father.

Jurors previously heard that the 15-year-old first went missing in August after her family refused to allow Akram to marry her.

The defendant allegedly took her to stay in a rented flat in Dundee in Scotland and the girl’s mother did not know the whereabouts of her daughter until more than a month later.

In September, staff at a London hotel called the police after they became concerned about the age difference between Akram and the girl when they checked in.

Akram was arrested and bailed under the condition that he did not contact the girl, who was put into foster care the next day.

The girl then went missing from her foster family’s home in Kent in October and Akram had allegedly made arrangements to take the girl back to Scotland again.

He was arrested at his Edgware home days later and the girl was found safe in a Dundee flat the following day.

Akram denied having sex with the girl during his first police interview in September.

In a transcript of the interview, read out to the court, he repeatedly answered “no” to questions about whether they had ever had any sexual relations or if she stayed at his house.

Akram, who is married, said: “It is against my religion, I did not do that. It is only allowed for my wife.”

The prosecutor said that after the DNA evidence had come to light, the defendant admitted having sex with the girl but said he believed she was over the age of 16.

The trial continues.