Seven members of an Asian grooming gang are facing “lengthy” prison sentences after they were convicted of the sexual exploitation of two white teenage schoolgirls in Rochdale.
Social services and police apologised for their past failings surrounding the victims who were abused in the town between 2001 and 2006 after a jury returned unanimous verdicts on Friday against the defendants.
Both girls 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.
Soon after, they were expected to have sex “whenever and wherever” the defendants and other men wanted, in filthy flats, on rancid mattresses, in cars, car parks, alleyways and disused warehouses.
Girl A told the jury at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court that she could have been targeted by more than 200 offenders as her phone number was swapped but said “there was that many it was hard to keep count”.
She told local children’s services in 2004 that she was “hanging around” with groups of older men, drinking and taking cannabis, the court heard.
Giving evidence, Girl B said she was living in a local children’s home when she was preyed on by market traders Mohammed Zahid, 64; Mushtaq Ahmed, 67; and Kasir Bashir, 50 – all born in Pakistan – who were stallholders on the town’s indoor market.
She said she presumed various agencies knew what was going on as police regularly picked her up after social workers labelled her a “prostitute”.
Girl B told the hearing she had since read her file held by Rochdale social services which, she said, stated she had been selling herself for sex from the age of 10.
Following the verdicts, Sharon Hubber, Rochdale Borough Council’s director of children’s services, said: “We know that these convictions are unlikely to erase the memories of the abuse these women were subjected to as children, but we hope they do bring some form of closure.
“We know that more could and should have been done by the people who were working here at the time, and for that we are truly sorry.”
Detective Superintendent Alan Clitherow, of Greater Manchester Police, said: “There was information at the time that police and other agencies could, and should, have done something with and we didn’t.
“The way those victims were dealt with at the time is indefensible and inexcusable.
“We have made comprehensive apologies for that. We’re not perfect but we are very much improving now on how we manage these investigations.”
Assistant Chief Constable Steph Parker added: “I know that our past failings have meant there are people who doubt the police’s commitment today to putting grooming gangs behind bars where they belong.
“Let me be clear – time is no barrier to justice, and we are actively working with dozens of survivors on numerous investigations to ensure no offender gets away with this. When you are ready, we will listen.
“Our dedicated, child sexual exploitation, major investigations team has almost 100 investigators working every day to listen to victims and to bring cases to court.”
Father-of-three Zahid – known as Boss Man – gave free underwear from his lingerie stall to both complainants and also money, alcohol and food in return for the expectation of regular sex with him and his friends.
In 2016, Zahid was jailed for five years in an earlier grooming gang case after he engaged in sexual activity in 2006 with a 15-year-old girl whom he met when she visited his stall to buy tights for school.
Bashir did not attend the current trial as jurors were ordered not to speculate why but it can be revealed that he absconded while on bail before the trial got under way.
Police are actively seeking Bashir and say they are “determined to find him no matter where he thinks he can hide”.
It can also be reported that co-defendants Mohammed Shahzad, 44; Naheem Akram, 48; and Nisar Hussain, 41; were remanded in custody with their bail revoked in January before the jury was sworn in.
Police received intelligence that the three Rochdale-born taxi drivers were planning to leave the UK and had already paid a deposit for their transport, the court heard.
All three denied the accusation but Judge Jonathan Seely said the court was not prepared to take a risk that they, too, would abscond.
A seventh defendant, Pakistani-born Roheez Khan, 39, also featured in another previous Rochdale grooming trial in 2013 when he was one of five men convicted of sexually exploiting a “profoundly vulnerable” 15-year-old girl in 2008 and 2009.
Khan was jailed for six and a half years for engaging in sexual activity with a child and witness intimidation.
After three weeks of deliberations by the jury, Zahid, of, Station Road, Crumpsall, 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.
Ahmed, of Corona Avenue, Oldham; and Bashir, of Napier Street East, Oldham; were convicted of multiple counts of rape and indecency with a child, in relation to Girl B.
Shahzad, of Beswicke Royds Street, Rochdale; Akram, of Manley Road, Rochdale; and Hussain, of New Field Close, Rochdale; were convicted of multiple counts of rape against Girl A.
Roheez Khan, of Athole Street, Rochdale, was found guilty of a single count of rape against Girl A.
Judge Seely told the men they all faced “lengthy” prison sentences as he remanded them in custody ahead of sentencing on a date to be fixed.
All the perpetrators were prosecuted as part of Operation Lytton, an ongoing investigation since 2015 by Greater Manchester Police into historical child sexual exploitation in Rochdale.
A total of 37 individuals have been charged so far, with five more trials scheduled to take place from September onwards.
