Seven man ‘sex slave’ grooming gang jailed for 174 years | UK | News

A seven-strong Asian grooming gang who raped and abused two teenage “sex slaves” have been jailed for a total of 174 years.

The depraved sex-beasts subjected the young white girls to a sickening five-year ordeal where they were trafficked to hundreds of their friends across the north of England.

Their victims, known as Girl A and Girl B, were groomed from the age of 13 and treated as “sex slaves” who were forced to “have sex with the men whenever and wherever they wanted”.

Girl A told how having her phone number shared with over 200 men had “destroyed my life” as she was repeatedly raped by the paedophiles. Her harrowing personal statement was read out as part of a three-day sentencing hearing of the seven men who were convicted earlier this year of a string of sickening child sex offences relating to her and another teenage girl in the town of Rochdale between 2001 and 2006.

Both girls suffered “deeply troubled home lives” which left them vulnerable to the men whose ringleader operated from a market stall in the town. After being befriended with gifts such as free underwear the girls were plied with drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, places to stay and people to be with as the men groomed them for abuse. Soon after the attacks began, taking place in filthy flats, on rancid mattresses, in cars, car parks, alleyways and even disused warehouses.

During the trial Girl A told the jury at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court that she could have been targeted by more than 200 offenders as her phone number was swapped but said “there was that many it was hard to keep count”.

On Monday, in a statement read out by prosecutor Rossano Scamardella KC, she said: “My life has been destroyed from the abuse of these men.

“The abuse has affected every part of my life, from what I look like, relationships, health, to my mental health.

“Over the last 10 years when I finally plucked up the courage to approach the police and disclose the abuse I suffered, it has been an absolute emotional rollercoaster for me.

“I have provided about 40 video interviews having to speak about what I was subjected to, talking about it out loud and explaining it in detail.

“This has been and still is consuming my life. I hope that one day I will be able to move forward with my life.

“The jury finding these men guilty I hope is going to help me take another step forward to get my life back, as I have already lost my childhood. And now because of the case I’m losing part of my adult life, continually revisiting the abuse of my childhood.”

Girl B revealed social workers had dismissed from the age of 10 as “a prostitute”.  The victim, who was living in a children’s home when she came into contact with the men on the market, said police and social workers knew what was going on but “weren’t concerned enough to do anything about it”.

“It was in my file, when I looked it up. I read it,” the woman, now aged in her 30s, revealed.

“I was picked up by the police for loitering and prostituting from the age of 10.”

Three of the abusers, Mohammed Zahid, 64, the leader of the gang, Mushtaq Ahmed, 67, and Kasir Bashir, 50, were all Pakistan-born stallholders on the market.

Father-of-three Zahid, who was known as both Bossman and Knickerman, gave free underwear from his lingerie stall to the girls, who did not know each other.

Bravely Girl B read her victim personal statement from the witness box as she urged other victims to come forward to the police.

She said: “I coped with what these men did to me as at the time I believed that every man I came into contact with would expect sex. It is horrific that I didn’t know any different.

“My way of coping was to block out most of what had been done to me. I have felt shame and guilt all my life for what these men did.

“My life has been on hold for the last 20 years, I have never been able to move on from the abuse.”

The survivor said she previously had “no faith in the police, but now encouraged other females who have been exploited to contact dedicated child sexual exploitation teams.

She added: “I want these victims to know that if they feel ready to deal with what happened to them they shouldn’t wait, they should go to the CSE team because they will do a good job.

“It doesn’t matter how much time has gone by, it is still possible to get justice.

“The day I watched the verdicts changed my life, I instantly had a massive weight lifted off me and I now feel like I can live my life. I do not need to feel ashamed, and I have already started that process.”

Judge Jonathan Seely praised both women for their “extraordinary courage” in making their statements, coming forward with their complaints and then going through the trial process.

He added: “Both girls were highly vulnerable, both had deeply troubled backgrounds and were known to the authorities. They were highly susceptible to the advances of these men and others, and both were sexually abused by numerous other men.

“They were passed around for sex – abused, humiliated, degraded and then discarded.

“Both were seriously let down by those whose job it was to protect them.”

He said Girl B was “failed woefully” and noted how she was “chillingly described” in a social services document as having prostituted herself at 10 years old.

The judge said both victims had suffered “incessant abuse”, and as children had been targeted by “gangs of sexually predatory men”.

Mohammed Zahid, 65, of Crumpsall, was convicted of raping Girl A and Girl B, who did not know each other, on multiple occasions. Jurors also found him guilty of offences of indecency with a child and procuring a child to have sex.

The ringleader Zahid, 65, a father-of-three, was jailed for 35 years for the systematic abuse of the girls between 2001 and 2006.

Ahmed, 67, of Oldham, and Bashir, 50, formerly of Oldham, were jailed for 27 years and 29 years after they were found guilty of multiple counts of rape and indecency with a child, in relation to Girl B.

Bashir was sentenced in his absence after he absconded while on bail before the trial got under way. He is believed to be out of the country.

Taxi drivers Mohammed Shahzad, 44, of Rochdale, Naheem Akram, 49, of Rochdale, and Nisar Hussain, 41, of Rochdale, were all convicted of multiple counts of rape against Girl A.

Both Shahzad and Akram were jailed for 26 years and Hussain was sentenced to 19 years in prison.

Roheez Khan, 39, of Rochdale, was jailed for 12 years after he was found guilty of a single count of rape against Girl A.

Bashir was sentenced in his abscence after fleeing the UK whilst awaiting trial. Greater Manchester Police admit they do not know where he is but have vowed to bring him to justice.   

In 2016, Zahid was jailed for five years in an earlier grooming gang case after he engaged in sexual activity in 2006 with a 15-year-old girl who he met when she visited his stall to buy tights for school.

Shahzad, Akram, and Hussain, were all remanded in custody last January – ahead of the summer trial – after police received intelligence that the three taxi drivers were planning to flee the UK and had already paid a deposit for their transport.

The seventh defendant Pakistan-born Roheez Khan, 39, also featured in another previous Rochdale grooming trial in 2013.

He was jailed for six-and-a-half years as one of five men convicted of sexually exploiting a “profoundly vulnerable” 15-year-old girl in 2008 and 2009.

All the men were prosecuted as part of Operation Lytton, an ongoing investigation by the force into historical child sexual exploitation in the town.

A total of 32 offenders have been convicted so far as part of that inquiry along with an earlier investigation called Operation Doublet into child sexual exploitation.

Five more trials are scheduled to take place from September.

Liz Fell, Specialist Prosecutor for the CPS’ Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit, said: “Seven men who groomed and raped two vulnerable teenage girls in Rochdale and the surrounding area two decades ago have been sentenced.

“At the centre of this case are two victims who, as children, were repeatedly abused, passed around and discarded by men who cruelly preyed on their vulnerabilities and exploited their difficult circumstances for their own sexual gratification.

“Both victims have shown an enormous amount of strength and dignity throughout what has been a lengthy and challenging legal process.

“The impact of child sexual abuse extends far beyond the immediate offending. Both women not only gave evidence during the trial but have assisted the Court further by providing Victim Personal Statements describing in tragic detail the trauma they have carried for decades, and the impact this offending has had on all parts of their lives.  

“Our Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit, in collaboration with Greater Manchester Police, was able to use extensive evidence to build a comprehensive picture of the defendant’s offending to present to a jury who found them guilty and delivered the justice these women deserved.

“All children have the right to be safe and protected. I hope the outcome of this case will encourage anyone who may be in a similar position to come forward to report their abuse to the police, knowing we will do all we can to prosecute where there is sufficient evidence to do so and offer support throughout the process.”