A gang of mainly Asian men who plied young girls with alcohol and drugs before sexually abusing them have been found guilty of a series of crimes. 8 men had gone on trial accused of a catalogue of offences alleged to have occurred in Rochdale over several years in the mid 2000s. Two girls were abused in the town both girls were passed around by the grooming gang and treated as ‘mere objects’ for them to ‘use, abuse, humiliate then discard’, Minshull Street Crown Court heard.
The crimes only came to light in 2015 after one victim, now aged in her 30s, told how she’d been ‘abused daily’. She claimed they would be ‘feeding me alcohol and drugs… and pass me on to their friends.”
After three months of free tax payer funded defence the trial came to an end, five men where jailed Mohammed Ghani, Insar Hussain, Jahn Shahid Ghani, Martin Rhodes and Ali Raza Hussain Kasmi 3 were cleared of all wrongdoing. Ikhlaq Yousef, Aftar Khan and Mohammed Iqbal were discharged from the dock.
- Ali Raza Hussain Kasmi, 36, of Brotherod Hall Road, Caldershaw, Rochdale, OL12 7 was found guilty of one count of rape and two counts of indecency with a child. He was found not guilty of one count of rape and two counts of penetrative sexual activity with a child.
- Ali Razza Hussain Kasmi, of Brotherod Hall Road, Rochdale, was jailed for eight years for rape and two other sexual offences against Girl B.
Cleared of all wrongdoing
- Ikhlaq Yousef, 38, of Stanley Street, Rochdale, was found not guilty of two counts of indecency with a child, two counts of rape, two counts of having penetrative sexual activity with a child, and one count of causing a child to engage in sexual activity.
- Aftar Khan, 34, of Sparth Bottoms Road, Rochdale, was found not guilty of three counts of rape, three counts of indecency with a child and two counts of having penetrative sexual activity with a child.
- Mohammed Iqbal, 67, of Gainsborough Drive, Rochdale, was found not guilty of two counts of paying for sexual services of a girl under the age of 18.
The Rochdale Grooming Gang 2023
- Mohammed Ghani, 38, of Bamford Way, Rochdale, was found guilty of five counts of penetrative sexual activity with a child. He was found not guilty of ten counts of rape, one count of having sexual intercourse with a child, two counts of indecency with a child, one count of penetrative sexual activity with a child and two counts of buggery.
- Jahn Shahid Ghani, 50, of Whitworth Road, Lower Healey, Rochdale, OL12 0, was found guilty of six counts of penetrative sexual activity and one count of causing a child to engage in sexual activity. He was found not guilty of eight counts of rape and two counts of penetrative sexual activity with a child.
- Insar Hussain, 36, of Bishop Street, Belfield & Howarth Cross, Rochdale, OL16 2, was found guilty of one count of rape and two counts of having penetrative sexual activity with a child. He was found not guilty of six counts of rape, two counts of having sexual intercourse with a child, three counts of indecency with a child, one count of having penetrative sexual activity with a child and one count of trafficking a person for sexual exploitation
- Martin Rhodes, 39, of Dinmore Avenue, Little Carleton, Blackpool, FY3 7, was found not guilty of two counts of rape. He previously pleaded guilty to two counts of penetrative sexual activity with a child.
- Ali Raza Hussain Kasmi, 36, of Brotherod Hall Road, Caldershaw, Rochdale, OL12 7 was found guilty of one count of rape and two counts of indecency with a child. He was found not guilty of one count of rape and two counts of penetrative sexual activity with a child.
- Sentencing
- Mohammed Ghani was jailed for 14 years and six months after being found guilty of five counts of penetrative sex with a child.
- Older brother, Jahn Shahid Ghani, of Whitworth Road, Rochdale, was described as a “sex addict” who gave Girl A up to 10 ecstasy tablets at a time and then had sex with her and another woman. He was jailed for 20 years for causing a child to engage in sexual activity and four counts of penetrative sexual activity with a child.
- Their friend Insar Hussain, of Bishop Street, Rochdale, was jailed for 17 years for rape and two counts of penetrative sex with Girl A.
- Ali Razza Hussain Kasmi, of Brotherod Hall Road, Rochdale, was jailed for eight years for rape and two other sexual offences against Girl B.
- Martin Rhodes, of Dinmore Avenue, Blackpool, pleaded guilty to four counts of penetrative sex with a child, relating to both Girl A and Girl B, and was jailed for 12 years and six months.