Rochdale grooming gang victims ‘seriously let down’ by authorities, says judge

Two Rochdale grooming gang victims who suffered “incessant abuse” from numerous men in the town were “seriously let down” by authorities, a judge has said.

On Wednesday, seven Asian men received lengthy jail sentences for committing various sexual offences against the then schoolgirls between 2001 and 2006.

Both were treated as “sex slaves” from the age of 13 “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.

Earlier this year, Girl A told a jury at Manchester Minshull Street Crown that she could have been targeted by more than 200 offenders as her phone number was swapped in the town but said “there was that many it was hard to keep count”.

Giving evidence, Girl B said she too was groomed by many men and was living in a local children’s home when she was preyed on by Mohammed Zahid, 65, a stallholder at Rochdale Indoor Market, who went on to abuse her on multiple occasions in a “campaign of rape”.

Zahid – widely known as Boss Man – thought he was “almost untouchable” as he brazenly visited the care home to pick her up and later drop her off, the court heard.

She said she presumed various agencies knew what was going on as police regularly picked her up after social workers labelled her a “prostitute” from the age of 10.

Judge Jonathan Seely said both victims had suffered “incessant abuse” and as children had been targeted by “gangs of sexually predatory men”.

He said: “Both girls were highly vulnerable, both had deeply troubled backgrounds and were known to the authorities. They were highly susceptible to the advances of these men and others, and both were sexually abused by numerous other men.

“They were passed around for sex – abused, humiliated, degraded and then discarded.

“Both were seriously let down by those whose job it was to protect them.”

He said Girl B was “failed woefully” and noted how she was “chillingly described” in a social services document as having prostituted herself at 10 years old.

Following the conclusion in June of a six-month trial of the seven defendants, both social services and police apologised for their past failings.

After sentencing, Sharon Hubber, director of children’s services at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “The council is in a very different place to where it once was more than a decade ago, and our work to improve our safeguarding practice and our response to child sexual exploitation has been recognised in every Ofsted inspection since 2014.

“We will not be complacent, however, and we remain committed to doing all that we can with our partners to protect and support victims and survivors.”

The court heard that Zahid gave free underwear from his lingerie stall to both teenagers, with money, alcohol and food, in return for the expectation of regular sex with him and his friends.

Zahid went on to introduce Girl B to fellow market traders Mushtaq Ahmed, 67, and Kasir Bashir, 50, who were all born in Pakistan.

He also introduced Girl A to another defendant, Roheez Khan, 39, who saw Zahid rape her in a flat in Rochdale and then went on to rape her himself.

Girl A was separately groomed by taxi driver Mohammed Shahzad, 44, who raped her, along with his taxi driver friends Naheem Akram, 49, and Nisar Hussain, 41.

Zahid, of Station Road, Crumpsall, was jailed for 35 years after he 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.

In 2016, Zahid was jailed for five years after he was convicted of engaging in sexual activity in 2005 and 2006 with a 14-year-old girl whom he met when she visited his stall to buy tights for school.

He was one of many men who called her phone number “out of the blue” and went on to groom the “extremely vulnerable” teenager.

Ahmed, of Corona Avenue, Oldham, and Bashir, formerly of Napier Street East, Oldham, were jailed for 27 years and 29 years after they were found guilty of multiple counts of rape and indecency with a child, in relation to Girl B.

Bashir was sentenced in his absence after he absconded while on bail before the trial got under way.

Shahzad, of Beswicke Royds Street, Rochdale; Akram, of Manley Road, Rochdale; and Hussain, of New Field Close, Rochdale, were all convicted of multiple counts of rape against Girl A.

Both Shahzad and Akram were jailed for 26 years and Hussain was sentenced to 19 years in prison.

Khan, of Athole Street, Rochdale, was jailed for 12 years after he was found guilty of a single count of rape against Girl A.