LONDON: A UK court on Wednesday jailed seven “grooming gang” members for between 12 to 35 years for using two teenage girls as “sex slaves,” the latest sentences in a decades-long scandal.
The men, all of South Asian descent, groomed at least two vulnerable white teenage girls in Rochdale, near Manchester in northwest England, and then repeatedly raped them over a five-year period starting in 2001.
A jury hearing their four-month trial in Manchester found all seven guilty in June of rape and dozens of other offenses, after both victims gave evidence in court.
Jurors heard they were forced to have sex “with multiple men on the same day, in filthy flats and on rancid mattresses.”
“They were passed around for sex — abused, humiliated, degraded and then discarded,” judge Jonathan Seely said on passing sentence.
It is the latest in a string of so-called grooming gang cases that prompted the government in June to order a public inquiry following years of calls for a wider probe.
Numerous official reports, including a landmark review by parliamentarian Louise Casey, have found men of mostly South Asian origin were suspected of having sexually abused thousands of mostly white, working-class girls over several decades.
Police probes into historic child sexual exploitation in Rochdale have so far led to the conviction of 32 offenders, including the seven sentenced Wednesday, according to police.
They have collectively been jailed for more than 450 years.
Far-right British figures, including activist Tommy Robinson, are among those to have seized on the issue as a rallying cry against multiculturalism and immigration.
It received international attention earlier this year when US tech billionaire Elon Musk launched incendiary attacks on his X platform against the UK government after it resisted calls for a national inquiry.
The men sentenced Wednesday were prosecuted as part of Operation Lytton, a police investigation launched in 2015 into historical child sexual exploitation in Rochdale.
- ‘Highly vulnerable’ -
Handing down the jail terms, Seely said the two victims “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,” he noted.
“Both were seriously let down by those whose job it was to protect them.”
Social services and police have apologized for their past failings surrounding the victims.
The longest sentence of 35 years went to market stallholder Mohammed Zahid, 65.
The father-of-three gave free underwear from his lingerie stall to both teenagers, alongside money, alcohol and food, expecting in return regular sex with him and his friends.
The Manchester resident had been found guilty of 20 offenses including rape, indecency with a child, and attempting to procure unlawful sexual intercourse from a girl.
Fellow Rochdale market traders Mushtaq Ahmed, 67, and Kasir Bashir, 50, both of Oldham, received jail terms of 27 years and 29 years, respectively.
Both had been convicted of offenses including rape and indecency with a child.
Bashir, who absconded before the trial began and is believed to have fled abroad, was sentenced in absentia.
Taxi drivers Mohammed Shahzad, 44, Naheem Akram, 49, and Nisar Hussain, 41, all of Rochdale, had been convicted of multiple counts of rape and received sentences ranging from 19 to 26 years.
A final offender, 39-year-old Roheez Khan, of Rochdale, was jailed for 12 years for a single count of rape.
Liz Fell, specialist prosecutor in the case, thanked both victims for their “strength and dignity throughout what has been a lengthy and challenging legal process.”
“Their determination to see justice done has been fundamental to securing these convictions,” she said, noting the defendants had failed to show the “slightest remorse.”
