Twenty Yorkshire men jailed for more than 200 combined years for raping and abusing young girls between 2001 and 2010

West Yorkshire Police first received reports of abuse in 2016, prompting an investigation in Calderdale.

Detectives launched multiple extremely complex and sensitive investigations into a number of separate allegations of sexual abuse of children in the Calderdale area between 2001 and 2010.

Due to court restrictions being put in place at an early stage to safeguard legal proceedings, police were unable to share the outcomes of these investigations.

The restrictions have now been lifted, allowing details of three investigations to be shared, where proceedings are no longer active.

In 2016 an investigation was launched into allegations of child sexual abuse and exploitation of two girls in the Calderdale area between 2006 and 2009 when the girls were aged between 13 and 16.

Two trials came from this investigation where nine men were convicted of several charges including rape.

Trial one commenced in October 2021 at Bradford Crown Court and led to five men being jailed.

Shahzad Nowaz, 45, of Halifax, was found guilty of rape and making threats to kill, sentenced to a total of 11 years.

Nadeem Nassir, 44, of Halifax, was found guilty of rape and making threats to kill, sentenced to a total of 11 years.

Sajid Adalat, 48, of Halifax, was found guilty of rape, sentenced to a total of seven years.

Sohail Zaffer, 41, of Halifax, pled guilty to rape and supply of a class C drug, and was sentenced to a total of 42 months.

Shazad Nazir, 49, of Halifax, was found guilty of rape, sentenced to a total of 11 years.

Trial two commenced in January 2022 Bradford Crown Court and led to four men being jailed.

Nadeem Adalat, 39, of Halifax, found guilty of rape, sentenced to 14 years.

He appealed the sentence which was increased to a total of 16 years.

Asad Mahmood, 38, of Halifax, found guilty of rape, sentenced to a total of 13 years.

Mohammed Rizwan Iqbal, 39, of Halifax, found guilty of rape, and was sentenced to a total of nine years.

Vaseem Adalat, 38, of Halifax, was found guilty of rape and sentenced to 12 years.

Following an appeal his sentence was increased to a total of 14 years and 6 months.

In 2016 an investigation was launched following reports of repeated sexual abuse of a vulnerable young girl between 2002 and 2006, starting when she was 13 years old.

Three trials came from this investigation where 11 men were convicted of several charges including rape.

Trial one commenced in August 2022 Bradford Crown Court during which Amir Shaban, 48, of Halifax, was found guilty of rape.

Shaban was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Trial two commenced in October 2022 at Bradford Crown Court where six men were jailed.

Malik Quadeer, 67, of Halifax, was found guilty of five counts of rape and sentenced to 22 years.

Mohammed Ziarab, 55, of Halifax, was found guilty of rape and sentenced to 10 years.

Imran Raja Yasin, 45, of Halifax, was found guilty of rape and sentenced to 10 years.

Kamran Amin, 48, of Halifax, was found guilty of rape and sentenced to 10 years.

Mohammed Akhtar, 54, of Halifax, was found guilty of rape and sentenced to 11 years.

Mr Akhtar died while serving his sentence.

Saquab Hussain, 46, of Halifax, was found guilty of rape amd sentenced to seven years and 6 months in prison.

Trial three commenced in January 2024 at Bradford Crown Court and led to three men receiving jail time.

Haroon Sadiq, 40, of Halifax, was found guilty of two counts of rape and sentenced to 10 years.

Shafiq Ali Rafiq, 44, of Dewsbury, was found guilty of two counts of rape and sentenced to 12 years.

Sarfraz Rabnawaz, 39, of Bradford, was found guilty of two counts of rape and sentenced to 9 years.

In 2018 the final investigation was launched into the sexual abuse of a girl in the Calderdale area between 2001 and 2002.

She was aged between 12 and 13 at the time of offending.

The trial took place in December 2023 at Bradford Crown Court where Craig Mitchell, 55 of Halifax, was found guilty of rape.

He was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Inspector Claire Smith of Calderdale District Police, said: “Firstly, I want to acknowledge the sheer courage of the victims and survivors in each of these investigations; not only for having the bravery to come forward initially but also for enduring the criminal justice system and the weight of criminal trials and reporting restrictions in place.

“Due to legal restrictions, it has not been possible to publicise these outcomes until now. I welcome the sentences handed to these offenders for the abhorrent abuse these young girls were subjected to, which was heard by the jurors in each trial over the last few years.

“Tackling child sexual exploitation and abuse is a top priority for West Yorkshire Police and our partners. This is an abhorrent crime which has a lifelong impact on victims and survivors. I hope highlighting the prosecution of these offenders will serve as a reminder that we will continue to do all we can to put perpetrators behind bars and protect victims and survivors.

“It’s never too late to report child sexual abuse. I encourage anyone who was abused as a child to speak to someone and seek support. Reports of non-recent abuse are handled by officers who are specially trained in supporting victims and survivors and dealing with such sensitive cases.”