Rotherham grooming gang are jailed for a total of 101 years after sexually assaulting young girls including victim who was ‘passed around by 100 Asian men’ by age of 16
The convicted men:
- Mohammed Imran Ali Akhtar, 37, of Godstone Road, Rotherham, was found guilty of one rape, one charge of aiding and abetting rape, three indecent assaults, one charge of procuring a girl under 21 to have unlawful sexual intercourse with another and one sexual assault
- Nabeel Kurshid, 35, of Weetwood Road, Rotherham, was found guilty of two rapes and one indecent assault
- Iqlak Yousaf, 34, Tooker Road, Rotherham, was found guilty of two rapes and two indecent assaults
- Tanweer Ali, 37, of Godstone Road, Rotherham, was found guilty of two rapes, two indecent assaults and one charge of false imprisonment
- Salah Ahmed El-Hakam, 39, Tudor Close, Sheffield, was found guilty of one rape
- Asif Ali, 33, of Clough Road, Rotheham, was found guilty of two indecent assaults
- Mohammed Doe, who cannot be named, was found guilty of two rapes
- Gang exploited girls from troubled homes who ‘wanted to be loved’, court is told
- As with similar gangs, girls were given drink, drugs and ‘passed round’ the group
- Judge says gang carried out ‘cynical manipulation and exploitation’ of victims
- One vulnerable girl was raped by scores of men between the ages of 13 and 16
Two other defendants, Nabeel Kurshid, 39, and Iqlak Yousaf, 34, were among a number of men who raped a girl in Sherwood forest, Nottinghamshire, when she was about 14 years old.
The jury heard how the vulnerable teenager was “high as a kite” after being given drugs and was warned she would be abandoned in the forest unless she complied with her abusers’ demands.
She became pregnant as a result of the attack and was forced by her parents to have a termination, suffering a “great deal of psychological trauma as a result”, Colborne said. The girl’s parents found out about the exploitation but were unsupportive, verbally abusing their daughter and locking her out when she arrived home late.
A sixth defendant, Asif Ali, 33, was found guilty of three indecent assaults, and the seventh, who cannot be named, was found guilty of two rapes.
An eighth defendant, Ajmal Rafiq, 39, was acquitted of one charge of indecent assault and one charge of false imprisonment.
The defendants remained silent as they were led to the court cells after being told by the judge, Sarah Wright, that they would be remanded in custody and sentenced on 16 November.
So far, 14 people have been convicted under Operation Stovewood. A further 24 suspects have been charged and 68 interviewed under caution. The investigation, comprising 250 officers, has recorded 648 grooming crimes over a 16-year period.
The defendants are:
- Mohammed Imran Ali Akhtar, 37, of East Road, Rotherham, denies one rape, one charge of aiding and abetting rape, four indecent assaults, one charge of procuring a girl under 21 to have unlawful sexual intercourse with another, one sexual assault and one charge of supplying cannabis.
- Nabeel Kurshid, 34, of Warwick Street, Rotherham, denies two rapes and one indecent assault.
- Iqlak Yousaf, 34, Tooker Road, Rotherham, denies two rapes and two indecent assault.
- Tanweer Ali, 37, of Godstone Road, Rotherham, denies two rapes, two indecent assault and one charge of false imprisonment.
- Ajmal Rafiq, 39, of Warwick Street, Rotherham, denies one indecent assault and one charge of false imprisonment. seems like its not charged
- Salah Ahmed El-Hakam, 39, Tudor Close, Sheffield, denies one rape.
- Asif Ali, 33, of Clough Road, denies three indecent assaults.
- An eighth defendant, who cannot be named, denies three rapes and one count of abducting a child.
A gang of six men has been jailed for a total of 101 years after sexually exploiting five vulnerable teenage girls in Rotherham.
The men targeted girls who were ‘easy to exploit because they wanted to be loved’ – sexually abusing them in parks, abandoned buildings and secluded locations.
The offences were committed against five girls under 16 in the Rotherham area between 1998 and 2005.
Their abusers – all Asian men from Sheffield and Rotherham – were convicted of offences including rape and indecent assault.
The girls said in statements how the men had ‘destroyed’ them and that their childhood had been taken from them.
One of the victims told a trial how she was made to have sex with ‘at least 100 Asian men’ by the time she was 16 and another described how she was gang-raped in a forest and threatened with being abandoned there.
At Sheffield Crown Court today, Judge Sarah Wright told the men: ‘Each in your own way perpetrated, facilitated or encouraged the sexual abuse of these young girls.
‘Each of the complainants in this case were groomed, coerced and intimidated. Each of them was groomed. Each of you, groomed.
During the gang’s trial, prosecutor Michelle Colborne QC told how the victims were ‘local girls with unsettled home lives’.
She said: ‘They were lured by the excitement of friendship of older Asian youths. They were given drugs and alcohol and passed on to other men for their own sexual gratification.
Girl tells of ordeal of having scores of men contacting her for sex
One victim told the court she suffered abuse between 1998 and 2001, starting when she was just 13 years old.
In a video interview, she said: ‘I can honestly say that by the age of 16 I had slept with 100 Asian men – some I didn’t see again.
‘The ones who come and use you for one time are the ones who are hard to remember.
‘As soon as you get to know them your number gets passed around.
‘Asian lads demanding to meet you – then you meet a new group and it went on like that.
‘I didn’t know at the time I was being passed around when I was 13 but I know now I’m older.’
The court heard that five of the men, led by ‘ringleader’ Mohammed Imran Akhtar, were friends who were ‘content to pass the girls around’.
As they were sentenced, prosecutor Michelle Colborne QC said the offences had a massive effect on victims’ lives.
In victim impact statements read out by Miss Colbourne, the court heard how one of them – who was aged between 13-15 at the time – had been ‘destroyed’ by the abuse.
Another victim – who was gang-raped in a forest by defendants Nabeel Kurshid and Iqlak Yousaf along with a third man – said the defendants ‘broke’ her.
Ms Colborne described this as ‘not a gentle act’ but a ‘planned group attack’.
The teenager was forced to terminate her unborn child after the rape and was left ‘severely psychologically-damaged’.
She wrote: ‘They made me think abusive behaviour was normal in any relationship.
‘Due to them I was not able to recognise the abuse I suffered – I hope the sentencing reflects how much damage they have caused to my life.’
How a series of B
Rotherham grooming gang are jailed for a total of 101 years | Daily Mail Online