Gro0ming gang who r@ped two schoolgirls and passed them around as ‘s£x slaves’ are jailed for 174 years

An Asian gr0oming gang have been jailed for 174 years in total after two white schoolgirls were r@ped as they were used as ‘sx slaves’ from the age of 13. Their leader, Mohammed Zahid, 65, father-of-three, now jailed for 35 years, was one of seven Asian men convicted in June by a jury at Manchester Minshull Street Court of committing various sxual offences against the girls between 2001 and 2006. They were the first Asian gro0ming gang to be brought to justice since Labour faced accusations of a cover-up for resisting calls for a public inquiry into how a generation of girls were betrayed by police and social services. Both girls were treated as ‘sx slaves’, said prosecutors, ‘amid deeply troubled home lives’ as they were given drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, places to stay, and people to be with. Soon after, they were expected to have sx ‘whenever and wherever’ the defendants and other men wanted, in filthy flats, on rancid mattresses, in cars, car parks, alleyways, and disused warehouses.  The trial also heard how one girl, at the time living in a children’s home, was scandalously dismissed by social workers as having been ‘prostituting’ herself from the age of ten. Girl A told the jury she could have been targeted by more than 200 offenders as her phone number was swapped in the town but said ‘there was that many it was hard to keep count’.  Giving evidence, Girl B said she was living in a local children’s home when she was preyed on by Zahid and fellow market traders Mushtaq Ahmed, 67, and Kasir Bashir, 50, who were all born in Pakistan.  She said she presumed various agencies knew what was going on as police regularly picked her up after social workers labelled her a ‘pr0stitute’ from the age of 10. Zahid, of Station Road in Crumpsall, thought he was ‘almost untouchable’ as he brazenly visited the care home to pick her up and later drop her off, the court heard. He 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 sx. In 2016, Zahid was jailed for five years after he was convicted of engaging in sxual activity in 2005 and 2006 with a 14-year-old girl whom he met when she visited his stall to buy tights for school. He was one of many men who called her phone number ‘out of the blue’ and went on to groom the ‘extremely vulnerable’ teenager. Now Ahmed, 67, of Corona Avenue in Oldham, and Bashir, 50, formerly of Napier Street East in the same town, have been jailed for 27 years and 29 years respectively after they were found guilty of multiple counts of r@pe 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, Naheem Akram, 49, and Nisar Hussain, 41, all from Rochdale, were all convicted of multiple counts of r@pe against Girl A. Both Shahzad and Akram were jailed for 26 years, and Hussain was sentenced to 19 years in prison. Roheez Khan, 39, also of Rochdale, was jailed for 12 years after he was found guilty of a single count of rape against Girl A. Social services and police have apologised for their past failings surrounding the victims. Sentencing, Judge Jonathan Seely said: ‘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 sx – 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’.  Rossano Scarmardella KC, prosecuting, said Zahid had been ‘brazen’ and ‘felt almost untouchable’. During the trial, he described how both girls were well known to social services and other agencies it was ‘no secret’ they were having sx with older, Asian men. But no reports were made to police, he said, and ‘no action was taken’ to stop the girls being abused. The gang’s sickening crimes only came to light when one of the girls, who was also sexually exploited by another grooming gang, went to police in 2015. In a victim’s personal statement, Girl A told how her life had been ‘destroyed’ by the abuse and her ‘childhood was taken away’. She said: ‘I meant nothing to these men – they used me for their advantage only. ‘They didn’t care how their abuse would have an impact on my childhood and adult life. As long as they got what they wanted, that was all that mattered.’ In her statement, Girl B described her experience as ‘horrific’ and said her life had been ‘on hold’ for the past 20 years, adding: ‘I have never been able to move on from the abuse. ‘This has not just impacted my life and what I could have achieved, but also my children’s lives. They have become victims of these men too.’ Liz Fell, specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service’s Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit, said following today’s sentences: ‘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 sxual 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.’ After sentencing, Sharon Hubber, director of children’s services at Rochdale Borough Council, said: ‘The council is in a very different place to where it once was more than a decade ago, and our work to improve our safeguarding practice and our response to child sexual exploitation has been recognised in every Ofsted inspection since 2014. ‘We will not be complacent, however, and we remain committed to doing all that we can with our partners to protect and support victims and survivors.’  The post Gro0ming gang who r@ped two schoolgirls and passed them around as ‘sx slaves’ are jailed for 174 years appeared first on Linda Ikeji Blog.