Five men facing jail over abuse of teenagers

Police swooped to remove the girls from their homes after social workers became aware of their activities and raised fears for the lives of the three.

Two of the girls were aged only 13 and the other was 16 but all were under care orders and known to social services.

The abuse over several months involved the girls having engaging in sex in a park and in cars in the Rotherham area.

The elder girl began sleeping with one defendant who became violent towards her and then raped her.

Eight men were accused of a series of sex offences against the girls in 2008 during a seven-week trial at Sheffield Crown Court.

Five – Umar Razaq, 24, Razwan Razaq, 30, Zafran Ramzan, 21, Adil Hussain 20, and Mohsin Khan, 21 – were found guilty of a range of sexual offences involving the grooming of teenage girls and the other three were cleared.

Det Sgt Dave Walker who led the inquiry said: "We basically have a group of young men who think it is all right to abuse young girls and they just groomed them and isolated them from their families."

Director of Rotherham's children and young people's services Joyce Thacker said of the girls: "I think they were in very serious danger, possibly of death.

"When they got used to being abused it just became a normal way of life for the girls. It is akin to self-harm. "It became clear to us some of the relationships were linked to exploitation. I am glad we got to the root of this before a fatality happened."

The five convicted men will be sentenced today.