Unmasked at last: Smirking Asian gang leader who groomed white girls for sex

Shabir Ahmed, 59, led a child sex exploitation ring of nine men who targeted vulnerable young girls in the Rochdale and Oldham areas of Greater Manchester.

He was jailed for 19 years last month following an 11-week trial at Liverpool Crown Court.

But Ahmed - known to his victims by the nickname “Daddy” - could not be named as he was awaiting trial on separate child rape charges.

Today he was convicted of 30 charges of rape by a jury at Manchester Crown Court and Judge Mushtaq Khokhar lifted reporting restrictions, which means he can be identified for the first time.

The court heard that he raped and sexually abused a young Asian girl over many years.

The court was told he treated her as a “possession” which he used for his own sexual gratification.

Ahmed, formerly of Windsor Road, Oldham, wearing a black Lonsdale tracksuit top, smirked as the jury returned the unanimous verdicts.

Judge Gerald Clifton, who sentenced Ahmed in Liverpool, said the gang treated their victims “as though they were worthless and beyond any respect”.

Ahmed was violent and dominated his victim, a jury of six men and six women was told in his latest trial.

Rachel Smith, opening the case for the prosecution, said Ahmed repeatedly raped the victim for more than a decade.

Miss Smith said: “She tried to make him stop, but it was to no avail.”

She said the victim was eventually forced to submit to him and the abuse happened on an almost weekly basis.

“The defendant was a violent and controlling man,” said Miss Smith, adding that he dominated his victim and would subject her to extreme violence.

She added: “The defendant treated (her) as some sort of possession to be used for his own sexual gratification, as and when he chose.”

The jury was told that the victim felt a sense of shame about what happened to her, which stopped her reporting it to the police for many years.

“The reality of what he had done to her was never far from her thoughts... she describes having dreams about it,” Miss Smith said.

The court heard that because of the abuse the victim “rejected the idea of ever marrying or having a sexual relationship with a man of her choosing” because of the impact of what she had suffered.

Judge Khokhar adjourned sentencing until August 2 for the preparation of a pre-sentence report.

At the close of the Liverpool trial, Judge Clifton dismissed the gang’s claims that there was no “racial or cultural” element to their crimes.

He said “one of the factors” leading to their abuse of their victims “was the fact that they were not part of your community or religion”.

The judge said some of the men claimed their arrest “was triggered by race”.

But, he added: “That is nonsense. What triggered this prosecution was your lust and greed.”

Ahmed and the nine other men were convicted of conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children under the age of 16.

He was also convicted of two counts of rape, aiding and abetting a rape, sexual assault and a count of trafficking within the UK for sexual exploitation.

He was previously banned from the court for his sentencing hearing because of his threatening behaviour and for calling the Judge Clifton a “racist bastard”.

Judge Clifton called the defendant an “unpleasant and hypocritical bully”.

In his latest trial, Ahmed rounded on the jury, police, the prosecutor, the media, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Margaret Thatcher and made personal comments about a Crown Prosecution Service case worker.

He claimed in court that the case against him was a racist conspiracy.