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A sick gang of eight Asian men have today been found guilty of sexually exploiting teenage girls in Rotherham, who were subjected to acts of a "degrading and violent nature".

The three victims have been praised for coming forward after they were "targeted" and "sexualised" by the men 13 years ago, a court heard.

The eight men, who include four members of the same family, where unanimously convicted of all 19 counts, including rape, indecent assault and false imprisonment, after 18 hours of jury deliberations.

During the course of the trial, a court heard the main complainant, who is now aged 27, originally made two complaints to police when she was just 13.

However no action was ever taken as South Yorkshire Police lost her clothing and failed to carry out a scientific examination, despite her family writing to then Home Secretary David Blunkett about the abuse.

She told police in April and October 2003 that she had been raped and physically attacked by Sageer Hussain.

She eventually asked for the case to be dropped after her family were subjected to threats by the gang.

An official inquiry into exploitation in Rotherham in 2014 by Professor Alexis Jay concluded that 1,400 children had been raped, trafficked and attacked between 1997 and 2013 by gangs of largely Asian men, and that the victims were effectively ignored.

His report said: "By far the majority of perpetrators were described as 'Asian' by victims, yet throughout the entire period, councillors did not engage directly with the Pakistani-heritage community to discuss how best they could jointly address the issue.

"Some councillors seemed to think it was a one-off problem, which they hoped would go away.

"Several staff described their nervousness about identifying the ethnic origins of perpetrators for fear of being thought racist; others remembered clear direction from their managers not to do so."

Michelle Colborne QC, who prosecuted the case, said: "The girl and her family were being subjected to threats and intimidation by those men and were very frightened.

"They sought help from social services and the police.

"They wrote to their Member of Parliament and the Home Secretary."

Ms Colborne said the family eventually had to move away from South Yorkshire to Spain to get away from the abuse.

Sheffield Crown Court, South Yorks., heard she later worked with victims of sexual exploitation and wrote a book about the subject, as well as appearing in a TV documentary.

Ms Colborne said the woman went back to the police in 2013 to reaffirm that the allegations she had made a decade previously were in fact true.

The prosecutor said the victims were "targeted, sexualised and in some instances subjected to attacks of a degrading and violent nature at the hands of these men".

Ms Colborne said: "These were local girls - some had perfectly normal lives but were lured by the excitement and friendship of older Asian males."

Sageer Hussain played a key role in "befriending young girls who were flattered that he and his friends wanted to spend time with them", Ms Colborne said.

The trial heard Hussain used the main complainant for "his own gratification and passed her to friends, older brothers and associates".

Hussain's cousins Mohammed Whied and Asif Ali - as well as his older brother Basharat Hussain, were also involved in the gang's abuse of the girl.

Ms Colborne added: "In the space of months, she had gone from being a normal happy child from a stable supportive family to one who was secretive and distant.

(Image: Police handout)

"Her mother watched her daughter change from a loving, lovely girl to one she describes as horrible and she was powerless to control it."

Ms Colborne said the girl live a "life of deceit and fear" after being lured into it by the gang.

She said: "They told her she owed them something because they had given her cigarettes, alcohol and cannabis.

"As time moved on, the threats became nasty in nature. They threatened to gang-rape her mother and they made it clear they were serious."

Ms Colborne said on one occasion, two of the defendants - Masoued Malik and Naeem Rafiq - took the girl to the flat of a man described by the girl as a 'Kosovan refugee' called Zalgai Ahmadi where she was forced to perform sex acts on a number of men.

Other incidents occurred in an alleyway by Boots in Rotherham town centre and at Clifton Park in the town.

Ringleader Sageer Hussain, 30, of Clough Road, Rotherham, was convicted of four rapes and one indecent assault.

Mohammed Whied, 32, of Psalters Lane, Rotherham, was found guilty of one count of aiding and abetting rape.

Ishtiaq Khaliq, 33, of Cherry Brook, Rotherham, was found guilty of one rape and three indecent assaults.

Waleed Ali, 34, of Canklow Road, Rotherham, was found guilty of one rape and one indecent assault.

Asif Ali, 30, of Clough Road, Rotherham, was convicted on one rape.

Masoued Malik, 32, of Bridgewater Way, Rotherham, was found guilty of one rape, one count of conspiracy to commit indecent assault and one of false imprisonment.

Basharat Hussain, 40, from Goole, was convicted of one indecent assault.

Naeem Rafiq, 33, of Clarendon Road, Rotherham, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit indecent assault and one of false imprisonment.

Speaking after the verdict, Detective Chief Inspector Martin Tate said: “This trial marks the culmination of three years of investigative work by South Yorkshire Police, Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council and the Crown Prosecution Service into the calculated and organised sexual exploitation of young girls in Rotherham.

“The verdicts today are of massive importance to the young women who have come forward to report years of horrific sexual abuse at the hands of these criminals.

“They had to endure what no child should and have shown remarkable bravery throughout our inquiry.

"From coming forward to officers, to providing video and written interviews, through to reliving their traumatic and awful abuse before the jury, they have carried themselves with composure and dignity.

“I am so grateful to these women, many of whom remain incredibly vulnerable, for offering their support to our investigative team and I am so pleased that their voices have been heard and their abusers have been held to account for their vile crimes."

And he added: “Please, if you are suffering sexual abuse, or know someone who is or has been a victim of this crime, come forward and talk to someone. We have officers who will listen to you, support you and do whatever we can to help you.”

Sarah Champion, Labour MP for Rotherham, said following the verdicts: "I would firstly like to state my absolute admiration and thanks to the survivors for coming forward.

"These young women have been trying for years to be heard, now a judge, and indeed the country, has heard the horror you endured and justice has been served. Their courage and bravery will inspire others and we should all be grateful for that."

Peter Mann, of CPS Yorkshire and Humberside, said: "In contrast to the courage and strength of the victims, these men's actions are utterly abhorrent. They waged a campaign of sexual violence and intimidation against young girls in the Rotherham area 13 years ago.

"Their victims were targeted, sexualised, and in some cases subjected to degrading and violent acts. Sageer Hussain in particular took a leading role in befriending the young girls, and in the case of one victim, passed her on to his friends and other associates, assisted in various ways by the other defendants."

The men were remanded in custody for sentencing on November 4.