Photo: West Yorkshire politi.
In the United Kingdom, a grooming gang consisting mainly of South Asian Muslim men has been sentenced to a total of 277 years in prison following an extensive investigation into sexual abuse of girls as young as 12 years old. This is reported by Daily Mail and The Sun.
Twenty people aged between 45 and 87 were arrested following the investigation into offences committed in Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England, between 1995 and 2003.
West Yorkshire Police stated that the gang had repeatedly subjected the girls to sexual abuse and rape, and that some of them had been given hard narcotic drugs.
A lead investigator in the case said that the children had been treated as “commodities for the gratification of heartless predators” — but praised the survivors’ courage in coming forward and speaking about the atrocities they had been subjected to.
The trial began at Leeds Crown Court in July 2023, but was spread across six separate criminal cases due to the complexity of the investigation.
The last of the cases concluded in September 2024, and the sentences were handed down last year. However, court rulings have prevented the publication of details about those imprisoned until now.
Among those imprisoned was Ansar Mahmood Qayum, 49, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for four rapes and one sexual offence in another case just over two years ago. He received a further 10 years for three new rapes and two new sexual offences, increasing his total prison sentence to 30 years.
The longest sentence was given to the depraved Sajid Majid, 53. Majid was imprisoned for 28 years after being found guilty of five counts of rape and three counts of sexual intercourse with minors.
Manaf Hussain, 51, from Heckmondwike, was sentenced to 25 years for six counts of rape and supplying Class A drugs.
Tariq Azam, 57, from Dewsbury, was sentenced to 24 years for five counts of rape and four counts of sexual assault.
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Zulfiqar Ali, 47, from Dewsbury, was sentenced to 22 years and six months for four counts of rape.
Aurrangzeb Azam, 56, from Dewsbury, was sentenced to 20 years for ten counts of rape and one count of sexual assault.
Shakeel Haq, 58, from Birmingham, was sentenced to 19 years in prison for three counts of rape and one count of unlawful imprisonment.
Rafiq Patel, 73, from Batley, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for two counts of rape.
Zaheed Ali Novsarka, 58, from Batley, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for two counts of rape.
Mohammed Sheikh, 53, from Batley, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for two counts of rape and two counts of sexual intercourse with minors.
Mohammed Yasin, 52, from Batley, was sentenced to 14 years for one rape and two counts of sexual intercourse with minors.
Liaquat Hussain Hanif, 49, from Batley, received 12 years and six months for two rapes and for supplying Class A drugs.
Ebrahim Mananiat, 56, from Batley, was sentenced to 12 years for two rapes.
Ibrahim Khalifa, 87, from Bradford, will likely die in prison after being sentenced to 11 years for two rapes.
Shafiq Siddique, 56, from Dewsbury, was sentenced to 11 years for one rape.
Mohammed Munir Shaffi, 48, from Dewsbury, was sentenced to nine years for two rapes.
Mohammed Ishtiaq Hussain, 51, from Dewsbury, and Abbas Kaji, 57, from Batley, were sentenced to eight and seven years in prison respectively for one rape.
Tasawar Hussain, 46, from Dewsbury, was sentenced to three years in prison for one rape.
Donna Lynn, 45, from Cleckheaton, the only woman in the gang, was sentenced to three years in prison for an offence related to controlling prostitution.
Two other men were found guilty by the court of the acts they were charged with, but were deemed unfit to give evidence.
DCI Rob Stevens from Kirklees District Police stated: “This has been an extensive investigation into truly appalling sexual abuse of vulnerable girls in Kirklees committed by a large number of sexual predators”.
“Over a period of almost two years, juries have heard some shocking revelations about the terrible way the victims were abused by those involved”.
“They were repeatedly subjected to sexual abuse, in some cases given Class A drugs, and largely treated as commodities for the gratification of heartless predators”.
“The long prison sentences given to some of these men, such as the 28-year sentence for Sajid Majid or the 20-year sentence for Aurrangzeb Azam, who was found guilty of 10 separate rapes, say much about their depravity and the abuse inflicted on the victims in this case”.
Stevens added: “Again, it cannot be emphasised strongly enough that the reason these appalling crimes came to light was the courage of the victims who came forward and reported the abuse they were subjected to. West Yorkshire Police are doing everything in their power to support victims of sexual abuse, but we are aware of how difficult it can be to report and then support the prosecution”.
“These women showed enormous courage in giving evidence in lengthy trials, and I hope they can feel proud of the determination they have shown in seeking justice, and in seeing people who do not belong in society being put behind bars”.
The gang is only the latest in a series of Muslim so-called grooming gangs that have been imprisoned following investigations into systematic sexual abuse in England. Many of these cases had previously been overlooked for fear of triggering accusations of racism.
In January 2024, a report revealed that young girls had for years been handed over to paedophile grooming gangs in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, due to failings by senior police officers and council chiefs.
The damning 173-page report, covering the period from 2004 to 2013, uncovered multiple failed investigations by Greater Manchester Police and an apparent indifference on the part of local authorities to the situation of hundreds of young girls.
The study followed reports by the same authors on grooming in Manchester and Oldham, which revealed that the authorities had again failed the children, leaving them at the mercy of the paedophile gangs.
Daily Mail writes that the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse, which published its report in 2022, described child sexual abuse in the United Kingdom as an “epidemic that leaves tens of thousands of victims in its toxic wake”.