Ten men convicted of sexual offences against 'extremely vulnerable' teenage girl

She told officers that from the age of 14 she had been repeatedly sexually groomed by a large number of men from the Rochdale area.

She also said that “hundreds” of men would ring her up wanting her to go out and have sex with them.

Thursday’s convictions can be reported following the conclusion of two trials at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court.

Opening the prosecutions, Neil Usher said the victim was “an extremely vulnerable young woman who has endured a very difficult home life”.

He said: “Some of this grooming was successful to the extent that as a child, and a vulnerable child at that, she on many occasions agreed to engage in sexual activity with a number of the older men.

“She told the police that there were other occasions when she had not agreed to have sex with some of the men, some of whom had nevertheless then gone on to have sex with her against her will.”

Afraz Ahmed, 33, of Oswald Street, Rochdale, was found guilty of various sexual offences, including rape, conspiracy to rape and sexual activity with a child, in relation to five underage victims.

Choudry Ikhalaq Hussein, 38, of Mayfield Terrace, Rochdale, was convicted of rape, sexual activity with a child and conspiracy to rape.

Rehan Ali, 27, of Cleethorpes Avenue, Blackley, and Kutab Miah, 35, of Ramsey Street, Rochdale, were both found guilty of rape and sexual activity with a child.

Mohammed Dauood, 38, of Leyland Road, Burnley, was convicted of offences in relation to two victims including rape, sexual activity with a child and sexual assault.

Abid Khan, 38, of Whitney Road, Liverpool, and Mohammed Zahid, 54, of Croxton Avenue, Rochdale, were found guilty of sexual activity with a child.

David Law, 46, of Colmanhay Road, Ilkeston, Derbyshire, was convicted of conspiracy to rape, while another defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was convicted of rape and attempting to abduct a child in relation to three victims.

A tenth defendant, Mahfuz Rahman, 29, of HMP Garth, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to three counts of sexual activity with a child. He was jailed last September for five-and-a-half years.

Three men were acquitted in the two trials.

The remaining defendants will be sentenced at Minshull Street Crown Court on April 7 and 8.

Alison Cartmell, Senior Crown Prosecutor from CPS North West Complex Casework Unit said: “These offenders have been convicted of a wide range of child sexual exploitation offences against young girls.

“They deliberately targeted the girls because of their youth and their vulnerability at the time, and in many cases groomed them by plying them with large amounts of alcohol or by pretending that they were offering genuine friendship before sexually abusing them.

“On a number of occasions the victims were subjected to violence or threats.

“One victim, an extremely vulnerable young girl with a troubled home life, was sexually exploited in some way by each one of these offenders.

“She has shown tremendous courage and determination in facing up to her abusers and giving evidence at court during two trials.

“The bravery of all the victims in reporting what happened and providing evidence during the trials has enabled us to bring strong prosecution cases and to bring these offenders to justice.

“Supporting them has been a key priority of the CPS and police throughout this prosecution, and we have put in place various special measures at court to help support them, such as giving evidence through a video link to the courtroom.

“This case sends out a clear message to those who abuse and exploit children in this way, that tackling these crimes remains a priority for the CPS and police and we will continue to bring offenders to trial.

“We take these cases extremely seriously and I hope these convictions will provide other victims of sexual abuse with confidence to come forward and report the abuse to police.”