Latest news with #groominggang
The Independent
3 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Keir Starmer agrees to national inquiry into grooming gang scandal after months of pressure
Keir Starmer is to launch a statutory national inquiry into the grooming gang scandal after months of pressure on the issue. The prime minister told journalists on the flight to the G7 in Canada that he had accepted the new recommendation from Louise Casey, who conducted the original review into the grooming gang scandal, which has hit communities all around the UK. Sir Keir and Labour ministers, including Minister for Domestic Abuse Jess Phillips, have come under attack for not agreeing to one before. It was alleged that there had been a cover-up because many of those responsible for attacks, including rape, on white working class girls were of Pakistani ethnicity. But the prime minister insisted that there had not been a U-turn on the matter, instead saying he had been waiting for Dame Louise to complete her review. He said: "From the start, I have always said that we should implement the recommendations [of Dame Louise's report]. 'I think there were 200 recommendations when you take all of the reviews that have gone on at every level and we have got to get on with implementing them. 'I have never said we should not look again at any issue. I have wanted to be reassured on the question of an inquiry. That's why I asked Louise Casey, whom I hugely respect, to do an audit. "Her position when she started the audit was that there was not a real need for a national inquiry over and above what was going on. She has looked at the material and she has come to the view that there should be a national inquiry on the basis of what she has seen. "I have read every single word of her report and I am going to accept her recommendation. That is the right thing to do on the basis of what she has put in her audit.' However, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, who has met with victims and has been demanding an inquiry, lambasted Sir Keir over the delay. She said: 'Keir Starmer doesn't know what he thinks unless an official report has told him so. Just like he dismissed concerns about the winter fuel payment and then had to U-turn, just like he needed the Supreme Court to tell him what a woman is, he had to be led by the nose to make this correct decision here. I've been repeatedly calling for a full national inquiry since January. It's about time he recognised he made a mistake and apologise for six wasted months. 'But this must not be the end of the matter. There are many, many more questions that need answering to ensure this inquiry is done properly and quickly. Many survivors of the grooming gangs will be relieved that this is finally happening, but they need a resolution soon not in 10 years time. Justice delayed is justice denied.' As well as the Tories and Reform UK demanding an inquiry, Labour MPs have also joined in exerting pressure. On Friday, Rochdale Labour MP Paul Waugh renewed his demand for a national inquiry after the long-delayed conviction of a grooming gang of seven men from his constituency. He said: 'Whether national or local inquiries are deployed, both need statutory powers to compel witnesses before them. 'And they should follow the evidence, wherever it leads them. No political party, no council, no police officer, no social worker, no racial group should be exempt from the need to find the facts. We still need accountability for everything that went wrong.'
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
Moment Asian Rochdale sex groomers turn on each other: Paedophiles who raped teenage girls nearly come to blows in police station as they blame each other
This is the shocking moment two members of a vile Rochdale grooming gang that exploited two young girls as sex slaves turned on each other in a police station. Naheem Akram, 48, and Nisar Hussain, 41, came close to trading blows as they blamed each other for being part of the Asian gang that raped teenage girls. The pair were both being questioned at Bury police station in 2017 over the serious sexual assault of one of the victims, known as Girl A, when when the fight broke out. Former taxi driver Akram, who was accused of raping and abusing the girl, pointed at Hussain and called him a grass, before trying to punch him. Hussian, who filmed a video of the same teenager being abused, later confirmed to police he had been assaulted but decided not to prosecute. Minshull Street Crown Court heard that the police's interview with Akram took a 'significant turn' as he was being released. Describing the incident, prosecutor Rossano Scamardella KC told the hearing: 'As that process was ongoing, Mr Akram started to lose his cool with the officers in the area with him. 'He began shouting that they had got it all wrong and that they were not doing their job properly. But in the same area of the police station, also being interviewed that day was Nisar Hussain. This is the shocking moment two members of a vile Rochdale grooming gang that exploited two young girls as sex slaves turned on each other in a police station Naheem Akram, 48, (left) and Nisar Hussain, 41, (right) came close to trading blows as they blamed each other for being part of the Asian gang that raped teenage girls 'Mr Akram saw him and shouted, 'there was four people in that car and it was not me or Shahzad, it was f****** him' and he pointed at Nisar Hussain and called him a "grass".' 'As the two men got closer to each other, Mr Akram began trying to punch Mr Hussain,' the KC added. Police released CCTV footage of the assault today after all seven members of the grooming gang were convicted of exploiting two young girls as 'sex slaves'. The gang preyed on the vulnerabilities of the victims to groom them from the age of 13 over a five-year-long campaign of abuse between 2001 and 2006. Both girls had 'deeply troubled home lives' and were given drugs, alcohol, cigarette, places to stay and people to be with, Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court heard. 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. Jurors deliberated for three weeks before delivering their unanimous guilty verdicts on Friday. Three of the abusers, Mohammed Zahid, 64, Mushtaq Ahmed, 67, and Kasir Bashir, 50, - all born in Pakistan - were stallholders on Rochdale's indoor market. The gang's depraved ringleader Zahid was even known as 'Knickerman' because of his underwear stall at the centuries-old trading hub. The pot-bellied, wispy-haired father-of-three exploited his products' appeal to young girls to lure in vulnerable youngsters who were then subjected to 'years of misery'. Top row, left to right: Kasir Bashir, Mohammed Shahzad; middle row, left to right: Mushtaq Ahmed, Roheez Khan; bottom row, left to right: Naheem Akram, Nisar Hussain 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 who 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. 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. 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. Starting when they were aged just 13, two terrified girls were 'passed around' for sex between fellow traders and taxi drivers – all from Rochdale's Pakistani community - between 2001 and 2006. They would then be callously 'discarded', jurors in a ten-week trial heard. Following a string of successful prosecutions which made the Greater Manchester town grimly synonymous with the scourge of grooming gangs, the victims – now in their 30s – decided to come forward to seek justice over their ordeals. In harrowing detail, one described her terror as she was raped by 'massive' and 'aggressive' paedophile. Heartbreakingly it also heard how the girl - at the time living in a children's home - was scandalously dismissed by social workers as having been 'prostituting' herself from the age of ten. As the pair's abusers now face lengthy prison terms, it can be revealed that two – including Zahid, who also used the nickname 'Bossman' - have already spent time behind bars over Rochdale child sex rings. Jurors also weren't told that the three British-born members of the gang were locked up partway through the trial following 'intelligence' that they planned to flee to Pakistan. A fourth skipped bail as the case got underway and was tried in his absence - his whereabouts are unknown. They are the first Asian grooming gang to be brought to justice since Labour faced accusations of a cover-up for resisting calls for a public inquiry into how a generation of girls were betrayed by police and social services. And today the Conservatives renewed their calls for the national inquiry to take place. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: 'The crimes committed by these men are sickening. Their victims were raped and abused for years, and the youngest was just 13 years old. 'It should not have taken 20 years to get these convictions. The gang's convictions in full Mohammed Zahid was convicted of ten counts of rape; four counts of indecency with a child; five counts of procuring a girl under 21 to have unlawful sexual intercourse; and one count of attempt to procure a girl under 21 to have unlawful sexual intercourse. Kasir Bashir was convicted of two counts of rape; and two counts of indecency with a child. Mushtaq Ahmed was convicted of four counts of rape; four counts of indecency with a child; and one count of procuring a girl under 21 to have unlawful sexual intercourse. Roheez Khan was convicted of one count of rape. Mohammed Shahzad was convicted of five counts of rape; and one count of assault by penetration. Nisar Hussain was convicted of two counts of rape; and one count of assault by penetration. Naheem Akram was convicted of six counts of rape; and one count of assault by penetration 'Not a single person in authority has ever been held to account for covering up crimes like these, and for ignoring the victims. 'It's time for a national statutory inquiry to get to the truth about the cover ups. I will push this to a vote in Parliament next Wednesday - but so far Labour has refused to have one, which simply continues the cover up. If they vote against a proper inquiry next week, it will be a day of shame for Labour.' According to one estimate, upwards of 250,000 girls have been attacked repeatedly by street gangs in 50 British towns and cities over the past 40 years. Today's convictions represent the eighth time that a group of men of mainly Pakistani heritage have been convicted of grooming girls for sex in Rochdale in the early 2000s. The court previously heard that 'if a man wanted sex with a young girl, he would pay Zahid a modest sum of money and a girl would be supplied'. 'That's how it worked in Rochdale,' prosecutor Rossano Scamardella KC added. Girls would meet up with groups of Asian men in parks, woods, on the moors and at a snooker hall. They would be given alcohol, cigarettes and drugs and driven around and taken to flats and houses, with the abuse also taking place in cars, alleyways or disused warehouses Pakistan-born Zahid has previously been jailed for sexual activity with a child over a previous Rochdale grooming case – jurors in the latest trial were told that the 64-year-old had previously been to prison 'for sexual offending'. Zahid cynically targeted youngsters shopping for underwear, identifying those with troubled backgrounds living in children's homes or foster care. Under the guise of 'work experience', he encouraged two 13-year-olds to hang around his stall at Rochdale's indoor market and that run by another perverted trader, Kasir Bashir. Bashir skipped bail at the outset of his trial but the case proceeded in his absence. Rochdale is now not synonymous with the great achievements of the Industrial Revolution but with what has become known as Asian grooming gangs, the men's trial heard Once trading had finished for the day, the grotesque pair would take the stock to a nearby shop, Maria Fashions, then run by another paedophile, co-defendant Mushtaq Ahmed. Already duped by Zahid's superficially friendly manner and the offer of small amounts of cash or free underwear, the girls would naively agree to enter the store's dingy cellar. Here they would strip off and wait to be joined by men who raped and sexually assaulted them on a filthy mattress. Trapped by an uncaring system which treated underage abuse victims as 'prostitutes', it was the start of a nightmarish descent into being used as 'sex slaves'. Afterwards they would be 'discarded… like rubbish', jurors were told. Mr Scamardella told jurors that between 2001 and 2006, both victims' lives were 'destroyed by these men and others like them'. 'They both endured years of misery being sexually abused by almost every man with which they came into contact.' He added that the abuse had taken place 'under the noses of social workers and others who should have done far more to protect them'. Bashir's whereabouts are unknown – he answered bail in the run-up to the men's trial, but vanished when it started back in January. Like Zahid and former shopkeeper Ahmed he was born in Pakistan, as was fellow gang member Roheez Khan. The other three convicted today - Mohammed Shazad, Nisar Hussain and Naheem Akram – were all born in Rochdale but were remanded in custody partway through following 'intelligence' that they planned to flee to Pakistan. An eighth man was formally found not guilty on all counts partway through the trial after the prosecution said there was no longer 'a realistic prospect of conviction'. Arfan Khan, 40, from Rochdale, had been accused of four sex offences, including two counts of rape. All seven of those convicted today are British citizens – however any with dual nationality could potentially face proceedings to strip them of their UK passports and deport them to Pakistan when they are released from prison. Mohammed Zahid, 64 Known as 'Bossman' to his fellow paedophiles, with his 'pot belly and wispy hair', the apparently unthreatening Zahid was mockingly dubbed 'Knickerman' by the girls whose abuse he masterminded. Ringleader of the latest grooming gang to face justice, Pakistan-born Zahid ran an underwear stall on Rochdale market in the early 2000s. Even experienced detectives were shocked at uncovering the extent of his depravity, branding the married father-of-three 'manipulative, controlling and clearly dangerous'. Then in his 40s, Zahid used it to target vulnerable girls as young as 13 – earning their trust by feigning sympathy for the tough start to life they had endured. One of the victims described him as coming across 'dead soft-natured' and 'like he actually gave a c**p' – something she had encountered all too rarely from adults in her life. Having groomed them, Zahid would offer the girls to fellow paedophiles to sexually abuse in exchange for money. Zahid 'led the way in Rochdale in child sexual exploitation', jurors were told. 'If a man wanted sex with a young girl, he would pay Zahid a modest sum of money and a girl would be supplied,' Rossano Scamardella KC said. He was the only gang member accused of sexually assaulting both victims in the current trial. Zahid was previously jailed for sexual activity with a child over an earlier Rochdale grooming trial. Kasir Bashir, 50 A second trader at Rochdale Market, the 'massive' and 'aggressive' paedophile ran a stall selling shoes and socks. Bashir helped Zahid groom Girl B before both abused her in the cellar beneath a nearby shop where they stored their wares overnight. Girl B became pregnant by Bashir when she was just 14 and he was 26. In a harrowing account, Girl B recalled being raped by a huge, bushy-haired man with an enormous stomach, massive nose and big lips when she was 13. 'He just looks aggressive,' she told a detective. 'He didn't have a soft face. It was just like stern. With him I felt like it wasn't right'. Girl B added: 'He was heavy. I can literally feel him on top of me, even now. 'I can see him on top of me. I can see him in the corner of the room. I remember it hurting. 'He was big and so I didn't want to do it. He was the one I didn't want to be near.' Pakistan-born Bashir answered bail in the run-up to the men's trial but vanished when it started back in January. He was tried in his absence and branded 'a liar' by prosecutors. Mushtaq Ahmed, 67 Ran clothing store Maria Fashion where his friends, perverted market traders Zahid and Bashir, stored their produce overnight. Helped sexually abuse terrified girls on a dirty mattress in the cellar beneath the store, now under new ownership. Prosecutors said Pakistan-born Ahmed was 'cunning and manipulative' and had told 'lie after lie after lie' when he reality he 'liked to have sex with children'. One of only two members of the gang to give evidence in their defence, Ahmed said he came to Britain in 1988. He previously ran market stalls in Rochdale, Oldham and Bradford. Ahmed was arrested after victim Girl B spotted him selling fruit and vegetables out of a van near a school. Roheez Khan, 39 Roheez Khan, 39 Nicknamed 'Cockeyed Taz' due to having a lazy eye, he arrived from Pakistan in 2005 and 'wasted no time' in finding girls to abuse, the trial heard. Khan – who became part of the gang due to having a friend who worked for a taxi firm - was jailed for the abuse of a 15-year-old girl in 2013 in an unrelated case. Girl A said she regularly had sex with Khan after meeting up while still in her school uniform. 'Like his friend Zahid, he couldn't help himself,' Mr Scamardella said. Mohammed Shahzad, 44 Nicknamed 'Zero', the taxi driver met Girl A when she was 13 and tricked her into believing he was 'an actual friend'. But after swapping phone numbers, he went onto have sex with her 'every week', the trial heard. One of three gang members born in Rochdale, Shahzad was remanded in custody partway through following 'intelligence' he planned to flee to Pakistan. Nisar Hussain, 41 Nisar Hussain, 41 Born in Rochdale, he was remanded in custody partway through following 'intelligence' he planned to flee to Pakistan. Another taxi driver and known as Niss, he filmed Girl A being sexually abused after being plied with drugs by co-defendant Shahzad. Naheem Akram, 48 Naheem Akram, 48 Another taxi driver, known to the victim as 'Lala', he met Girl A when co-defendant Shazad invited her to a 'sesh' and gave her Ecstasy. Hussain filmed her being sexually abused, the trial heard. Shahzad then blackmailed her by saying he would circulate the footage unless she had sex with him and Akram, who she branded 'horrible'. She complied, but after raping her they cruelly shared the humiliating clip anyway, she said. Following his arrest, Akram was caught on CCTV lashing out at co-accused Nisar Hussain and branding him a 'grass' after both were interviewed at Bury police station in February 2017.
The Independent
a day ago
- The Independent
Seven men face ‘lengthy' sentences for sexual abuse of teenage girls in Rochdale
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.
BBC News
a day ago
- BBC News
'Dangerous predator' handed additional sentence for abusing girls
A member of a grooming gang who is serving a lengthy sentence for sexually abusing young girls has been convicted of further Mahmud was jailed for 15 years in 2018 and handed an additional sentence of six years and three months in Leeds Crown Court on Thursday, the 44-year-old was sentenced to five years and nine months after admitting six further sex offences, including rape and formerly of Banks Crescent, Huddersfield, was told the sentence would run consecutively to his existing jail term. According to West Yorkshire Police, the latest offences were committed against two girls, aged 13 and 14, in Huddersfield between 2001 and crimes were reported to police in 2020 and investigated as part of Kirklees Police's series of long running specialist investigations into non-recent child sexual exploitation and Ch Insp Oliver Coates said: "Mahmud is without doubt an absolute danger to young females."It was welcome to see the court determine he must serve his latest sentence after the lengthy combined sentence he is currently in prison for, and I hope this further conviction has been of some comfort to his victims."Urging other victims of sexual offences to come forward he said: "Sexual predators such as Mahmud have only been snared through the courage of victims coming forward and I want to thank both women in this case."By reporting this horrendous abuse and supporting the trial process, they and other women in these cases, have played a significant role in making communities safer by ensuring men such as Mahmud are off our streets." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
