UK: 8 Pak-origin men get 96 years in jail for sexually abusing teen girls
London: Eight Pakistani-origin men, who sexually abused three teenage girls in the UK between 1999 and 2003, were today jailed for a total of 96 years.
Sageer Hussain, Ishtiaq Khaliq, Waleed Ali, Masoued Malik, Asif Ali, Naeem Rafiq, Basharat Hussain and Mohammed Whied were sentenced to the prison terms by Sheffield Crown Court, having been convicted of a total of 16 charges after a trial.
The judge said their victims had been "targeted, sexualised and subjected to degrading and violent acts."
The offences included rape, indecent assault and false imprisonment.
During a month-long trial one victim said she and her family had been forced to move to Spain to escape the abuse.
Jailing Sageer Hussain, who was said to be the ringleader, Judge Sarah Wright said he had a "campaign of violent rape" against the vulnerable 13-year-old.
Addressing all eight men she said: "The victim of all eight of you was vulnerable. She was just 13 to 14 years old.
"Although she had a loving and supportive family, and was doing well at school as she was reaching adolescence, she was susceptible to the attention that you and others gave her. She was targeted, sexualised and subjected to acts of a degrading and violent nature. The childhood and adolescence of each of the victims can never be reclaimed."
Hussain's brothers Arshid, Basharat and Bannaras were jailed in April in the first Rotherham grooming trial. Arshid and Basharat Hussain were found guilty of 38 offences, including rape, indecent assault, abduction, false imprisonment and making threats to kill. They were jailed for 35 years and 25 years respectively. Bannaras Hussain pleaded guilty to 10 charges before the trial and was jailed for 19 years.
Rotherham MP Sarah Champion said: "I welcome the news that these eight men have been jailed for a total of 96 years for their utterly despicable crimes.
"This sends the strongest signal that we will not stand for the abuse of children. I hope today's sentences bring some closure to the survivors and that they feel justice has been done."
