'Absolutely shocking' Keighley grooming gang sentences increased after appeal
Three members of a grooming gang in Keighley have had their child sex abuse sentences increased after a campaign by the local MP.
In January, Robbie Moore wrote to Attorney General Lord Richard Hermer asking him to call in the sentences for four different grooming gangs from the Bradford district that have been convicted in the last decade.
In particular, the Keighley and Ilkley MP asked him to review the jail term given to Ibrar Hussain.
Two girls were plied with drugs and alcohol as they were passed between numerous men, “virtually all of whom were of Asian heritage”, in Keighley in the 1990s, when they were in their early teens.
Initially, Hussain, 47, Imtiaz Ahmed, 62; and Fayaz Ahmed, 45, were sent to prison for six-and-a-half years, nine years, and seven-and-a-half years respectively at Bradford Crown Court for raping one of the girls, when she was 13 or 14.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, she said that almost 30 years after the abuse, she still suffered flashbacks and the trauma left her unable to trust people
Only Hussain left the dock to start his sentence, as the Ahmed brothers both absconded during their trial and are believed to be abroad in Pakistan.
Now those sentences have been increased by a total of eight years, after the Solicitor General referred the case to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.
Today, Hussain and Fayaz Ahmed’s sentences were increased to 10 years, while Imtiaz Ahmed’s was hiked to 11 years.
Solicitor General Lucy Rigby KC MP said: “This case involved the shocking and hideous abuse of a vulnerable teenager by these three sexual predators.
“I referred these sentences to the Court of Appeal because in my view they were unduly lenient.
“I attended court today for the hearing and I very much welcome the Court of Appeal’s significant increases to these sentences.”
Mr Moore said he thought the sentences were still too low: “I get that the Court of Appeal must act within the existing sentencing guidelines, but in my view ten years in prison is absolutely shocking for men who destroyed the lives of children.
“These men committed some of the most appalling crimes imaginable: rape, exploitation, and the sustained abuse of two young girls aged just 13 and 16, here in our town.”
He added: “Radical change to sentencing is needed. I will continue to push relentlessly for the strongest possible sentences for these monsters and every single individual convicted of serious sexual offences in our area. Nothing less is acceptable."