Rochdale grooming gang jailed for total of 174 years as ringleader sentenced to 35 years

The 65-year-old was one of seven men convicted in June of committing various sexual offences against the girls between 2001 and 2006.

Both victims were treated as “sex slaves” from the age of 13, said prosecutors, “amid deeply troubled home lives”, as they were given drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, places to stay and people to be with.

Members of the gang expected them to have sex "whenever and wherever", including in filthy flats, on rancid mattresses, in cars, car parks, alleyways and disused warehouses.

Girl A told the jury at Manchester Minshull Street Court 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, aged 67, and 50-year-old Kasir Bashir.

Zahid, of Station Road, Crumpsall, thought he was “almost untouchable” as he brazenly visited the home to pick her up and later drop her off, the court heard.

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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 sex.

Members of the gang have been sentenced to a combined total of 174 years.

Ahmed, of Corona Avenue, Oldham, and Bashir, formerly of Napier Street East, Oldham, were jailed for 27 years and 29 years after they were found guilty of multiple counts of rape 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, aged 44, of Beswicke Royds Street, Rochdale, Naheem Akram, aged 49, of Manley Road, Rochdale, and Nisar Hussain, aged 41, of New Field Close, Rochdale, were all convicted of multiple counts of rape against Girl A.

Both Shahzad and Akram were jailed for 26 years and Hussain was sentenced to 19 years in prison.

Roheez Khan, aged 39, of Athole Street, Rochdale, was jailed for 12 years after he was found guilty of a single count of rape against Girl A.

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 sex – abused, humiliated, degraded and then discarded.

“Both were seriously let down by those whose job it was to protect them.”

Social services and police have apologised for their past failings surrounding the victims.

The judge added that both victims had suffered “incessant abuse”, and as children had been targeted by “gangs of sexually predatory men”.

In a statement read out by prosecutor Rossano Scamardella KC at an earlier hearing, Girl A said: "My life has been destroyed from the abuse of these men.

"The abuse has affected every part of my life, from what I look like, relationships, health, to my mental health.

"Over the last 10 years when I finally plucked up the courage to approach the police and disclose the abuse I suffered, it has been an absolute emotional rollercoaster for me."

Girl B said: "My life has been on hold for the last 20 years, I have never been able to move on from the abuse."

Greater Manchester Police Detective Chief Inspector, Guy Laycock, said: “These seven men preyed on vulnerability for their own depraved sexual gain.

"The men abused, degraded and then discarded the victims when they were just children. This horrific abuse knew no limits, despite their denials throughout this lengthy investigation and court case.

"They had a callous disregard for these women when they were girls, and continue to show no remorse for their unforgivable actions all these years later."