A sex gang of seven “predatory” men has been convicted of abusing young girls in the UK.
The group of seven men was described by an Oxford Crown Court judge as “predatory and cynical.”
The court heard how the gang frequently abused girls aged between 13 and 15 in a purpose-adapted vehicle they called a “[expletive] wagon,” with a license plate ending “SHG.”
After a lengthy five-month trial, which began on Oct. 9, 2017, and concluded on Friday, March 23, the men were found guilty. A jury of four women and seven men took a record-breaking 107 hours and 31 minutes, over the course of 24 days, to reach their verdict.
The charges faced by the men, aged between 37 and 47, included indecent assault, rape, and false imprisonment, on five victims between 1998 and 2005.
During the trial, Oxford Crown Court heard accounts from the victims, all of whom were aged between 13 and 15 at the time, who said they were plied with drink and drugs and took part in sex parties. A number of the women also recalled the sinister vehicle the men used, in which some of the abuse reportedly took place.
Judge Peter Ross, who presided over the trial, said once the final verdicts were handed out, “Systematic and widespread grooming, that is what this case has revealed. The investigation has involved countless hours of work and [the police] are entitled to commendations for the work they have done.”
He also thanked jurors for their hard work and “phenomenal” dedication to the case in returning their verdicts, following the longest jury deliberation in Oxford Crown Court history.
The trial saw seven defendants convicted—Raheem Ahmed, Moinul Islam, Kamran Khan, Kameer Iqbal, Khalid Hussain, Alladitta Yousaf, and Assad Hussain.
Two others who stood trial, Saboor Abdul and Haji Khan, were acquitted of all charges. Two other men involved in the proceedings cannot be named for legal reasons.
All accused denied their part in the child sexual exploitation.
The court heard throughout the trial how the seven men on numerous occasions coerced the girls into sex at a number of addresses across Oxford.
These included at guest houses, in parked cars, and at local parks.
Prosecutor Oliver Saxby called the abuse “routine, cynical and predatory sexual exploitation.”
Opening the trial in October, Saxby said, “Each of the young girls we are dealing with shared one very important characteristic, they were vulnerable. Perfect prey for, in the main, young men prepared to exploit them for casual sexual gratification that was easy, regular and readily available.”
During the trial, one victim recounted how she would be pressured into sex at numerous locations across Oxford, between February 1998 and February 2001.
In some of the instances of abuse, the girls were plied with drink and drugs as part of what prosecutors called the “grooming process.”
They were made to take part in “sex parties” at a number of addresses across Oxford involving large groups of men.
A number of the woman also recalled a black Nissan Serena people carrier in which many instances of sexual abuse allegedly took place.
One woman said of the vehicle “They would pick the girls, have sex with them, and dump them. Everything happened in that Serena.”
The men will be sentenced at Oxford Crown Court in June.
Below are the charges in full and the findings of the court.
Raheem Ahmed, 40, of Starwort Path, Oxford, was convicted of two counts of indecent assault and one count of false imprisonment. He was cleared of one count of rape.
Moinul Islam, 41, of Wykeham Crescent, Oxford, was convicted of two counts of indecent assault, one count of rape, and one count of supplying cannabis to another. He was cleared of false imprisonment.
Kamran Khan, of Northfield Road, Bolton, was convicted of indecent assault and false imprisonment. He was cleared of one count of rape.
Kameer Iqbal, 38, of Dashwood Road, Oxford, was convicted of three counts of rape.
Khalid Hussain, 37, of Ashhurst Way, Oxford, was convicted of one count of rape and count of indecent assault. He was cleared of another count of rape.
Alladitta Yousaf, 47, of Bodley Road, Oxford was convicted of one count of indecent assault.
Assad Hussain, 37, of Iffley Road, Oxford, was convicted of two counts of indecent assault, three counts of rape, and two counts of conspiracy to rape. He was cleared of one count of indecent assault.
Saboor Abdul, 37, of Oxford Road, Cowley, one of only two defendants to take to the stand, was unanimously cleared of a single count of rape.
Haji Khan, 37, of Littlegreen Lane, Birmingham, was cleared of one count of conspiracy to rape and one count of indecent assault.
