As nine men are jailed, charity boss raises fears over Asian grooming of white teenage girls in Leeds

Martin Narey, former chief executive of the children’s charity Barnardo’s, was speaking as nine men from Lancashire who targeted vulnerable girls were jailed for between four and 19 years.

The nine, who groomed white girls as young as 13 with drink and drugs were driven by “lust and greed”, a judge said.

They were convicted yesterday of conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children under the age of 16 and other offences.

Judge Gerald Clifton told them: “All of you treated (the victims) as though they were worthless and beyond any respect.

“One of the factors leading to that was the fact that they were not part of your community or religion.

“Some of you, when arrested, said it was triggered by race.

“That is nonsense. What triggered this prosecution was your lust and greed.”

Shortly before the sentences were handed down, Mr Narey said: “For this particular sort of crime, the street grooming and trafficking of girls in northern towns - Derby, Leeds, Blackpool, Blackburn, Oldham, Rochdale - there is very troubling evidence that Asians are overwhelmingly represented in prosecutions for such offences.

“That is not to condemn a whole community, most Asians would absolutely abhor what we have seen in the last few days in the Rochdale trial, and I don’t think this is about white girls.

“It’s sadly because vulnerable girls on the street at night are generally white rather than more strictly-parented Asian girls, but there is a real problem here.”

The Liverpool Crown Court hearing took place amid tight security with police standing guard in the courtroom and around the building amid fears of a large demonstration or disruption by far-right groups.

In the event around 20 BNP members gathered outside the court building holding placards and shouting towards television crews and press photographers.

All twelve members of the jury returned to court to hear the sentences passed today.

Judge Clifton said the men had been convicted for their their “grave” sexual offences, which involved “grooming and sexually exploiting” several young girls.

He said: “In some cases those girls were raped callously, viciously and violently.”

“Most of you were many years older than they were,” he said.

“They were going through a period in their lives full of difficulty and misery.

“One had left her parents’ home, another had been in care for many years.

“You attracted them to your company by flattery, free food, and alcohol.

“Some of you acted to satiate your lust, some to make money out of them.

“All of you treated them as though they were worthless and beyond all respect.”

Judge Clifton said the men had been convicted for their their “grave” sexual offences, which involved “grooming and sexually exploiting” several young girls.

He said: “In some cases those girls were raped callously, viciously and violently.”

“Most of you were many years older than they were,” he said.

“They were going through a period in their lives full of difficulty and misery.

“One had left her parents’ home, another had been in care for many years.

“You attracted them to your company by flattery, free food, and alcohol.

“Some of you acted to satiate your lust, some to make money out of them.

“All of you treated them as though they were worthless and beyond all respect.”

A spokeswoman for the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop) said after the hearing that child sexual exploitation spanned “all cultures and ethnicities”.

But she added: “These cases do highlight that Asian males have been involved in an organised manner in exploiting young women.

“Some of these cases involved offenders from different backgrounds as well, although Ceop are investigating why there may be a majority of Asians in these particular kinds of offence.”

The leader of the Manchester-based Ramadhan Foundation, Mohammed Shafiq, accused Pakistani community elders of “burying their heads in the sand” on the issue of on-street grooming.

He said: “There is a significant problem for the British Pakistani community. There is an over-representation amongst recent convictions in the crime of on-street grooming. There should be no silence in addressing the issue of race as this is central to the actions of these criminals.

“They think that white teenage girls are worthless and can be abused without a second thought - it is this sort of behaviour that is bringing shame on our community.”

Judge Clifton told the defendants the sentences “applied to all defendants, be they white or Asian”.

The man regarded as the ringleader, a 59-year-old who cannot be named for legal reasons, was jailed for a total of 19 years for conspiracy, two counts of rape, aiding and abetting a rape, sexual assault and a count of trafficking within the UK for sexual exploitation.

The defendant was previously been banned from the court because of his threatening behaviour and for calling the judge a “racist bastard”.

Simon Nichol, defending, earlier said that his client did not wish to attend the sentencing hearing and had ordered the barrister not to put any mitigation before the judge.

“He has objected from the start for being tried by an all white jury and subsequent events have confirmed his fears,” Mr Nichol said.

“He does not take back any of the comments he has made to your honour, to the jury, or to anyone else in the court during the course of the trial.

“He believes his convictions have nothing to do with justice but result from the faith and the race of the defendants.

“He further believes that society failed the girls in this case before the girls even met them and now that failure is being blamed on a weak minority group.”

The judge called the defendant an “unpleasant and hypocritical bully”.

Takeaway worker Kabeer Hassan, 25, of Lacrosse Avenue, Oldham, was jailed for nine years for rape and three years, concurrently, for the conspiracy conviction.

The 59-year-old ordered the first victim to have sex with Hassan as a birthday “treat”. He raped the girl, then aged 15.

Taxi driver Abdul Aziz, 41, of Armstrong Hurst Close, Rochdale, was sentenced to nine years for conspiracy and nine years, concurrently, for trafficking for sexual exploitation.

The married father-of-three took over from the 59-year-old as the main trafficker of victims and was paid by men to supply girls for sex.

Ahmed Nadim, in mitigation, said his client had led “thus far an industrious and socially responsible life.”

But Judge Clifton said his behaviour was “repugnant”.

Married father-of-five Abdul Rauf, 43, of Darley Road, Rochdale, was jailed for six years for conspiracy and six years, concurrently, for trafficking for sexual exploitation.

The religious studies teacher at a local mosque asked a 15-year-victim if she had any younger friends and would drive some of the girls to other men despite knowing they were underage.

Zarif Khan, in mitigation, told the judge Rauf’s fall from grace was “particularly significant”.

Judge Clifton branded him a hypocrite.

Mohammed Sajid, 35, of Jepheys Street, Rochdale, was sentenced to 12 years for rape, six years for conspiracy, one year for trafficking and six years, all concurrent, for sexual activity with a child.

Known as “Saj”, he would regularly ply victims with alcohol before having sex with them at his flat, where groups of men would gather and “pass around” the girls.

Gerard Doran, defending, said in mitigation that each of the three victims “maintained there was no violence used against them by Mohammed Sajid”.

He will be deported to Pakistan after serving his sentence.

Adil Khan, 42, of Oswald Street, Rochdale, was sentenced to eight years for conspiracy and eight, concurrently, for trafficking.

Khan, who is married with one child, fathered the child of a 13-year-old victim who believed she was in love with Khan.

Tina Landale, defending, said Khan had “lost everything” and his family had suffered racist abuse since his arrest.

Mohammed Amin, 45, of Falinge Road, Rochdale, was sentenced to five years for conspiracy and 12 months, concurrently, for sexual assault.

He was a driver for Eagle Taxis for 14 years and was known as “Car Zero”. He is married with school-aged children.

Simeon Evans, in mitigation, said: “He has no previous convictions and no previous complaints about his character in 13 years of working as a taxi driver.”

Abdul Qayyum, 44, of Ramsay Street, Rochdale, was jailed for five years for conspiracy.

He was a driver for Streamline Taxis in Middleton, Greater Manchester, and was known by the name “Tiger”.

Philip Boyd, defending, said of his client: “He is a hardworking man of significant character in his community. He has a young family and wife who will be placed under considerable pressure by this conviction.”

Illegal immigrant Hamid Safi, 22, of no fixed address was jailed for four years for conspiracy and one year, concurrently, for trafficking.

He entered the UK on a lorry in 2008 and claimed to have fled Afghanistan because his uncle was murdered by the Taliban.

He was released from a detention centre in Birmingham in March 2009 when he moved to Rochdale.

Safi will be deported back to Afghanistan after his sentence.

His barrister Stuart Duke told the court the offences were “not something he orchestrated or instigated”.

Some defendants had previously accused the all-white jury of being racist after a tweet by BNP leader Nick Griffin.

Last Thursday afternoon - two-and-a-half days after the jury retired to consider its verdicts - Griffin posted a comment on his @nickgriffinmep account which read: “News flash. Seven of the Muslim paedophile rapists found guilty in Liverpool.”

Griffin later backtracked on Twitter when he was told that the jury had not yet officially returned any verdicts.

But the tweet led to eight defence lawyers calling on Judge Clifton to discharge the jury after investigations revealed Griffin’s comment to be a “100% accurate” reflection of its deliberations so far.

The defence counsel who supported the discharge of the jury said there must have been “two-way communication” between someone in the jury room and a far-right organisation.

The judge found against them and allowed the jury to return its verdicts.

Today he told the jury it had gone about its task in “painstaking” and “fair” manner.

He said: “Anybody who may have doubted this jury should bear in mind the way that you have analysed the evidence and returned the verdicts.

“What I have seen is the conscientious behaviour of 12 members of the public.”

“I, and the people of Britain, must be thankful for the painstaking care that you took in the trial.

“I want you to go home and hold your heads high,” he added.

Alias Yousaf, solicitor for Adil Khan, confirmed he will lodge an appeal against the conviction, suggesting the confidentiality of the jury’s deliberations may have been “breached”.

Speaking outside court, Mr Yousaf said there had been attempts by right-wing organisations to influence the outcome “from the outset of this trial”.

He added that, against the background of demonstrations by the BNP, EDL and a prosecution witness who is a member of the BNP, the judge had asked the jury to confirm they were not associated with right-wing groups.

He said: “It was of great concern therefore that, on May 3, it was reported on the internet by the Infidels of Great Britain, a far-right organisation, that seven defendants had been found guilty and Nick Griffin tweeted ‘Newsflash: Seven of the Muslim paedophile ring found guilty in Liverpool’.

“At this time no verdict had been returned in court.

“Nick Griffin back-tracked on this tweet when he was told the jury had not yet returned any verdicts.

“An inquiry by the judge of the jury revealed that this report was true in that they had found seven defendants guilty.

“It is of great concern that the chairman of the British National Party appeared to have been aware of the verdicts before they were even communicated to the court.

“We are left with no option but to conclude that the confidentiality of the jury’s deliberations must have been breached and we submit the proper inference should be drawn that there must have been improper communication from within the jury room to Nick Griffin and perhaps others.

“In the circumstances, we submit the impartiality and independence of the jury, which is the cornerstone of any fair trial may have been compromised.

“This leaves open the question of improper influence of the jury’s deliberations on the verdicts that happened.

“We submit this must be investigated thoroughly to identify the perpetrator and to hold them to account for any interference or tampering with the jury.

“In the circumstances, our client’s right to a fair trial may have been compromised.”

Mr Yousaf also rounded on police for failing to tackle the right- wing demonstrators outside court at the start of the trial.

He said: “Yesterday, a senior police officer thanked the Crown Prosecution Service and the prosecution barrister for the professionalism shown in the face of internal and external pressure.

“What the officer failed to mention was that they failed to control the racist chanting mob which gathered outside the Crown Court at the start of the trial, which resulted in one barrister being assaulted on the first day of the trial in full view of the national media, CCTV and the police.

“The mob was indiscriminate in its hatred and attacks with missiles on non-whites entering the court building, whether linked to this trial or not.

“Further, the officer failed to mention the pictures and videos taken of defence teams and posted on far-right websites under the title of ‘Muslim paedophiles outside Liverpool Crown Court’.

“I was included on those videos and pictures on far-right websites and on YouTube.

“To our knowledge, not a single arrest has been made following the assault on the defence barrister and the disorder surrounding that particular incident.

“In light of these observations, we are surprised that Assistant Chief Constable Steve Heywood highlighted as-yet unidentified pressures being brought to bear on the prosecution team yet failing to acknowledge, let alone condemn, the unprecedented violent, criminal, sinister and intimidatory acts aimed at members of the defence teams who were of Asian origin.

“Our concern is that the facts which are available to all may well have resulted in certain sections of the community losing faith in the ability of the law to protect them in cases of racial sensitivity - this is not a reference to defendants but those who are in other ways connected with the court process simply going about their business but are singled out due to the colour of their skin.”

Police sources said today that further arrests linked to the gang could be in the offing.

Despite today’s comments from Judge Clifton, Greater Manchester Police continue to deny there was a “racial or cultural” element to the gang’s crimes and said it was about adults abusing vulnerable children.

A chance to stop the gang was missed in 2008 by the police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) who have apologised for their failings.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is spearheading an investigation into the botched inquiry.

The first victim, who was 15 when the abuse began, told the police what had been happening, but her complaint was not taken seriously and she continued to be abused by the gang until December 2008 when she fell pregnant and moved away.

The trial was delayed by two weeks when two Asian barristers quit the case due to pressure from far-right groups outside Liverpool Crown Court which spilled over to disorder on the streets of Heywood, Greater Manchester.

Police interviewed 47 young girls from the area who they believed could have been victims of the gang.

The offences happened in and around Rochdale in 2008 and 2009.

The father of one victim told the court he joined the BNP after he heard what had happened to his daughter.

At the start of the trial, Rachel Smith, for the prosecution, said the girls - aged between 13 and 15 - were given alcohol, food and money in return for sex but that there were times when violence was used.

Police said the victims were from “chaotic”, “council estate” backgrounds.

The girls were targeted in “honeypot locations” where young people were seen to congregate, such as outside takeaways.

The court was told that some of the defendants paid the girls and took payments from other men to whom they supplied the girls for sex.

It heard that the men knew each other and that the abuse began at the Tasty Bites and the Balti House takeaways, both in Market Street in the Heywood area of Rochdale.

Those takeaways are now under new management, police said.

The defendants, some of whom worked as taxi drivers and takeaway workers, were known to the girls by nicknames such as “Master” and “Tiger”.

The girls were not in school regularly and “drank and smoked and hung around with little to do”, the prosecution said.

Senior investigating officer Detective Inspector Michael Sanderson, of the sexual offences unit, said: “Today’s result reflects the gravity of the offences.

“These defendants have never shown the slightest bit of remorse and have forced their victims to re-live their horrific ordeals.

“Today’s sentences provide a strong message that Greater Manchester Police and our partners will hunt down and prosecute anyone believed to be involved in the sexual exploitation of children.”