Four men have been jailed for sexually abusing a young girl who was traded among a group of men from the age of 13 after being groomed with cigarettes and alcohol.

The victim told how she was forced to perform sex acts in a churchyard, raped above a shop on a filthy mattress, and violently abused when she tried to refuse their advances.

Handing the group from Shropshire sentences of from four and a half to to eight years on Thursday, a judge said the men had manipulated the girl until she was no longer in effective control of her own life.

Addressing the ringleader, Mohammed Ali Sultan, the recorder of Birmingham, Judge Melbourne Inman QC, said: “The victim was clearly extremely frightened of you, and you exercised significant control over her.” The judge said Ali Sultan was clearly very dangerous.

The offences took place in the Telford area sometime between 2001 and 2002, and started when the girl, now an adult, was 13. She said she was assaulted by other unidentified males, with the abuse continuing until she was in her mid-teens.

Prosecutors told the jury at Birmingham crown court that the girl was passed around “like a piece of meat”. She testified that she repeatedly thought about taking her own life and claimed teachers did not intervene when rumours about her went round her school.

Jurors were told that the victim was sold for sex, first by a man named Tanveer Ahmed, who “befriended her” during a low point in her life.

Ahmed, who did takeaway deliveries at Perfect Pizza in Telford, was not on trial alongside the other defendants, having been deported to Pakistan.

He was jailed for two and a half years in 2012 after admitting a charge of controlling a child prostitute. Ahmed was one of a number of men imprisoned after an investigation into a child sex abuse ring in Telford as part of West Mercia police’s Operation Chalice inquiry.

Later, the victim came into contact with Ali Sultan, 33, formerly of Telford, who she said also sold her for sex, raped and abused her. Ali Sultan was also among the men originally convicted following the Chalice investigation.

The victim told police that, years after the abuse ended, she recognised photographs of Ali Sultan and Ahmed from press reports on the Telford sex abuse ring.

Asked during the trial why she did not tell anyone about exactly what happened until years later, she replied: “I think I had just had enough, I kept it to myself for all these years. Still to this day it goes through my head, all the time.”

Jailing Ali Sultan for eight years, the judge said: “When last at liberty, you clearly attacked a number of victims over a prolonged period. You’ve shown no remorse in relation to the present allegations and no insight as far as I can see into the offending. You remain, clearly, a very dangerous man.” Ali Sultan was convicted of rape and three counts of indecent assault.

Mohammad Rizwan, 37, also of Telford, was jailed for five and a half years for two counts of indecent assault. Shafiq Younas, 35, of Wellington, near Telford, was jailed for four and a half years for indecently assaulting the victim in a churchyard. Amjad Hussain, 38, of Telford was also jailed for four and a half years for one count of indecent assault.

Outside court, DI Rob Rondel, of West Mercia police, paid tribute to the victim’s bravery. Asked how safe girls were now in Telford, Rondel replied: “Things have changed dramatically since the offences took place. We have a dedicated child exploitation team and will work tirelessly with our partners to protect the community. The police are here to listen.”