Six men have each been jailed for up to 15 years over the rape of young girls in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.

Usman Ali, 34, Gul Riaz, 43, Banaras Hussain, 39, Abdul Majid, 36, and two others who could not be named for legal purposes were jailed for a combined 55-and-a-half years on Wednesday.

They were found guilty of a total of nine counts of rape and two counts of indecent assault of two girls in the Huddersfield area between 1995 and 2011.

The victims, who were aged 13 and 14 when the "insidious and persistent" abuse began, were said by Judge Geoffrey Marson QC to likely "never recover" from the ordeals they suffered.

It was the sixth trial related to West Yorkshire Police's Operation Tendersea investigation - a probe into child grooming gangs in Huddersfield.


A total of 34 men have been convicted in the investigation, with prison sentences now totalling 377-and-a-half years.

Speaking at the sentencing, Judge Marson said the dozens of men convicted as part of the operation had taken advantage of the vulnerability of their victims and had built a relationship of trust.

It allowed "predatory men to perpetrate gross sexual abuse for their own perverted gratification," he said.

"They were planned offences by a large group of Asian men."

He added: "The way these girls were treated defies understanding. The abuse was vile and wicked."

One of the victims was raped by all six of the defendants in Wednesday's case, either when she was too drunk or drugged to consent, with other people present, or after being told she would not be taken home before having sex.

Addressing Majid, the judge said: "You raped her as the price for taking her home. You repeatedly abused her for your own sexual gratification."

Meanwhile, the second victim had tried to report the abuse to police in 1997 but wasn't believed, prosecutor Andrea Parnham said.

She said the woman now suffers from nightmares, flashbacks, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety from the ordeals that still "haunt" her.

The first victim also suffers from PTSD, depression and bulimia.

Both of the girls were kept under control by the gang with violence or threats of violence against them and their families.

"It is clear that both have been and remain profoundly affected by the abuse which ended some years ago," the judge added.

Those convicted on Wednesday are:

Usman Ali, 34, was jailed for eight years for two counts of rape.

Banaras Hussain, 39, was jailed for nine-and-a-half years for one count of rape.

Abdul Majid, 36, was jailed for 11 years for two counts of rape.

Gul Riaz, 44,was jailed for 15 years for two counts of rape and two counts of indecent assault.

Two were unnamed for legal reasons.

A seventh person, a 37-year-old man, is due to be sentenced on Thursday for one count of rape.