MP says prison sentences given to six child abusers 'nowhere near long enough'

An MP said the prison sentences handed to men convicted of child sex offences in West Yorkshire are “nowhere near long enough” and they should all be locked up for life.
The men jailed for raping a child in Keighley. 

Top row: Nasir Khan, Kamran Hussain, Omar Safdar.

Bottom row: Imran Sabir, Hassan Basharat, Barber HussainThe men jailed for raping a child in Keighley. 

Top row: Nasir Khan, Kamran Hussain, Omar Safdar.

Bottom row: Imran Sabir, Hassan Basharat, Barber Hussain
The men jailed for raping a child in Keighley. Top row: Nasir Khan, Kamran Hussain, Omar Safdar. Bottom row: Imran Sabir, Hassan Basharat, Barber Hussain

Robbie Moore, MP for Keighley and Ilkley, spoke out after six men were jailed for a total of 66 years, for raping a teenage girl in Keighley between 2008 and 2009.

Last week, it was revealed that Barber Hussain, 36, of Bradford, has been sentenced to 13 years after being convicted of seven counts of rape.

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Hassan Basharat, 32 and Omar Safdar, 30, were both convicted of three counts of rape and jailed for 12 years. Nazir Khan, 30, and Imran Sabir, 42, also recieved 12 years each, as they were both found guilty of two counts of rape.

Robbie Moore, MP for Keighley and Ilkley, said the men should be locked up for lifeRobbie Moore, MP for Keighley and Ilkley, said the men should be locked up for life
Robbie Moore, MP for Keighley and Ilkley, said the men should be locked up for life

Kamran Hussain, 29, recieved five years for one count of rape, while Usman Sultan, 30, and Amjad Hussain, 35, are due to be sentenced at a later date.

The Crown Prosecution Service said the men “ruthlessly exploited” the girl and “abused her systematically and repeatedly”.

Mr Moore said he may write to the attorney general’s office and call for the “lenient” sentences to be reviewed.

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He said: “My personal view is that absolutely they are far too short. Really, individuals who are convicted of child rape should rot in prison for the rest of their lives.

“I really don't think that the sentences that they've received in any way fit the crime at all.

“Some of them were convicted of more than one rape, so my view is that the length of those sentences is nowhere near long enough.”

In the UK, rape carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

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The Conservative MP has also been calling on Bradford Council to order an independent local inquiry into child sexual exploitation in the Bradford district.

Speaking in Parliament in October, he said the issue is “being swept under the carpet”.

He also told MPs a “small minority of largely Pakistani Muslim men” have been abusing children in Bradford “for far too long” and “nothing has really changed” since his Labour predecessor Ann Cryer raised concerns about grooming gangs over 20 years ago.

But councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, leader of Bradford Council, has said a local inquiry is not necessary and the council is working to review and improve its response to the sexual exploitation of children.

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The Labour politician also said the council has commissioned 57 reports on the issue over the last seven years and referred itself to the Government’s national inquiry.

Last month, The Government decided the council should be stripped of control over its Children's Services department, which has been rated inadequate by Ofsted since 2018.

It came after Government-appointed commissioner Steve Walker conducted a three-month review of children’s services and found the council “lacked the capacity and capability to improve services at pace on its own” and an “alternative delivery model” was needed.

The Department for Education said a not-for-profit trust, with an independent chair and board of directors, will take charge of the department and it will be set up and owned by the council but "operate at arms length".