Eight members of a Pakistani sex gang in Rotherham have been fond guilty of rape after one of their victims came forward, 13 years after she was abused. The girl and her family told the police, the local MP and former Home Secretary David Blunkett about the attacks a decade earlier but withdrew amid threats to the family. It was only after the victim and two others come forward did the police proceed with investigating.
After a month-long trial at Sheffield Crown Court which included 18 hours of deliberations, all eight men were found guilty of 19 charges of rape, indecent assault and false imprisonment.
Ringleader Sageer Hussain, 30, was convicted of four rapes and one indecent assault. Mohammed Whied, 32, one count of aiding and abetting rape, Ishtiaq Khaliq, 33, of one rape and three indecent assaults, Waleed Ali, 34, of one rape and one indecent assault. Asif Ali, 30, of one rape, Masoued Malik, 32, of one rape, one count of conspiracy to commit indecent assault and one of false imprisonment. Basharat Hussian, 40, of one count of indecent assault and Naeem Rafiq, 33, on one count of conspiracy to commit indecent assault and one of false imprisonment.
The court heard how the girls were assaulted between 1999 and 2003 before making the complaint in 2003. Michelle Colborne QC, prosecuting, told the court how the victim’s family withdrew the allegations when the gang threaten to burn down their home and gang-rape mother. The court was also told how the police lost the victim’s clothes without carrying out any forensic analysis.
QC Colborne said Sageer Hussain befriended the girls who were then exploited by him, his older brothers and his friends. The girls were also groomed with cigarettes, alcohol and cannabis. Detective Chief Inspector Martin Tate from the South Yorkshire Police said the trail marked the end of a three-year investigation into “the calculated and organised sexual exploitation of young girls ion Rotherham.”
The men were remanded in custody pending sentencing on November 4.
