102 years in prison for Rotherham child grooming gang
From top left: Arshid Hussain, 40, Basharat Hussain, 39, and Bannaras Hussain, 36, and (bottom) Karen MacGregor, 58, Shelley Davies, 40, and Qurban Ali, 53. (YorkshirePost)
The six members of a gang that sexually abused teenage girls for 16 years in Rotherham, have been handed 102 years worth of prison sentences.
Gang leader Arshid Hussain was sentenced to 35 years in prison at Sheffield Crown Court this afternoon. Brothers Basharat and Bannaras Hussain were given 25 years and 19 years in prison respectively.
Meanwhile uncle Qurban Ali was given a ten year sentence for his role in the abuse, Shelley Davies was sentenced to 13 years behind bars and Karen MacGregor a two year suspended sentence.
The brothers Arshid, Basharat and Bananras Hussain were yesterday found guilty of 48 separate offences, and were said to have ‘ruled’ Rotherham, using violence and fear.
These offences included rape, false imprisonment, indecent assault and actual bodily harm.
Reaction
Judge Sarah Wright when handing out the sentences to the guilty gang members told them
“The harm you have caused is of unimaginable proportions”
She spoke of the bravery of the victims in speaking out about the years of abuse they had endured, against the men that had supposedly ‘ruled’ Rotherham. She told the gang:
“Each of your victims was vulnerable in some way. Many were subjected to repeated abuse, and made to feel they could not report what had happened to them”
“You Arshid Hussain in particular played a key role, you and your brothers were well known to the area and you exploited that in full”
“The victims have shown the utmost courage in coming forward, giving evidence and effectively having to relive their abuse in this court. Their bravery in speaking up, knowing they would be repeatedly accused of lying in this court was considerable and cannot be underestimated.”
Just prior to sentencing one of the victims spoke out about the harm that they had caused her
“I now have to get undressed in the dark because I hate myself, and that’s just not right. I have suffered throughout my life”
“Why am I still scared after all these years.. I am haunted by disgusting memories, flashbacks and nightmares. My life has been shattered into a million pieces, i’m just held together by sticky tape”
Following the announcement that Arshid Hussain was sentenced to 35 years in jail there were shouts of relief from the gallery, and the victims embraced one another. The focus of the investigation will now lie with how these acts remained undetected for up to 20 years, in one of the biggest enquiry’s of potential neglect of duty and corruption in South Yorkshire police’s history.
Scandal
The convictions are the first successful prosecution of a grooming gang in Rotherham since the child sexual exploitation scandal engulfed the town following the publication of a report by Prof Alexis Jay, a former commissioner of social work. She had warned that sex abuse could have affected as many as 1,400 children in the town, blaming failures of leadership amongst the police and local council, in missing many opportunities to investigate abuse on a huge scale
The trial was also peppered with claims that that police agencies knew what was happening but failed to act, with more than 50 officers already being investigated and warnings that figure could increase.
Peter Mann from the CPS, temporary Det Ch Insp Martin Tate, and Ian Thomas from Rotherham Council spoke outside court after the case. bbc.co.uk
Rotherham MP Sarah Champion said that this trail was just “the tip of the iceberg” in terms of abuse of children
“The problem, the sadness, is that it tends to only be once there’s been a national scandal or national recognition of the problem that then the services do actually step up and start acting, start protecting the children, the young people and start getting the convictions.
“So, in Rotherham’s case, it had the biggest wake-up call internationally that any town possibly could. And yes, moving forward it is starting to get a really good system in place.”
While the sentencing will close one chapter of this case, there is still much more to be done to uncover the horrific story of the abuse that went on for decades in Rotherham.
Alan Billings, the South Yorkshire police and crime commissioner said that the public needed answers as to why the complaints remained uninvestigated for so many years
“Knowing that these things were going on and people were aware of them and failed these young girls – it wasn’t a single officer, it was the entire force that has a case to answer”
“It was a complete disgrace and that’s the awful legacy that the force has had to deal with and to accept, first of all. The force has changed now, and we are determined to offer these victims justice”
The defendants
Arshid Hussain, 40, High Street, East Cowick, Goole, was convicted of 23 of the 28 charges he faced, including indecent assault and rape.
Basharat Hussain, 39, of no fixed abode, was convicted of all 15 charges he faced, including two counts of rape.
Bannaras Hussain, 36, of Bridge Close, Goole, pleaded guilty before the trial to 10 charges including rape, indecent assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Qurban Ali, 53, Clough Road, Rotherham, was convicted of conspiracy to rape, but cleared of three other charges including rape.
Karen MacGregor, 58, Barnsley Road, Wath, South Yorkshire, was convicted of of conspiracy to procure prostitutes and false imprisonment.
Shelley Davies, 40, Wainwright Road, Kimberworth Park, Rotherham, was found guilty of conspiracy to procure prostitutes and false imprisonment.
Majid Bostan, 37, Ledsham Road, Rotherham, was acquitted of one charge of indecent assault.
Sajid Bostan, 38, Broom Avenue, Rotherham, was acquitted of seven charges, including four counts of rape.
