Six men jailed in Rotherham child sexual abuse case

SIX men belonging to a grooming gang have been jailed for sexually abusing five teenage girls in Rotherham.

Iqlak Yousaf, Nabeel Kurshid, Mohammed Imran Ali Akhtar, Tanweer Ali, Salah Ahmed El-Hakam and Asif Ali were found guilty after a trial.

The men plied the girls with drinks and drugs and sexually abused them by luring them in promising friendship.

During the trial, one victim said she had been sexually abused by "at least 100 Asian men" by the time she was 16. Another said she was passed around to other Asian men.

The men, all of British Pakistani heritage, have been sentenced to between 10 and 23 years at Sheffield Crown Court.

The men targeted the girls, all between 13 and 16 years, and abused them over seven years between 1998 and 2005.

One of the girls said: "I feel like I'm constantly fighting to get justice for what they did to me. I hope the court realises these men have destroyed me. Some parts of me can never be fixed.

Sentencing them, Judge Sarah Wright told the men: "Each in your own way perpetrated, facilitated or encouraged the sexual abuse of these young girls. Each of the complainants, in this case, were groomed, coerced and intimidated. Each of them was groomed. Each of you, groomed.

"You can have been in no doubt that the complainants were vulnerable in the extreme."

The victims described being taken to remote locations across Rotherham and being threatened with consequences if they did not do as they were told. One victim said the men took turns raping her and another said one of the men threatened to dump her in a remote location if she did not have sex with him and his friends.

Judge Wright added: "You were clearly not immature evidenced by the fact you all indulged in cynical manipulation and exploitation of your victims, which showed a maturity well beyond your chronological age.

"They continue to suffer considerable trauma and will continue to suffer throughout their lives as a result of your actions."