Two members of a Newcastle grooming gang who abused teenage girls have been jailed for 29 years and 12-and-a-half years respectively.

The gang gave drugs to the teenagers before prostituting them at parties known as "sessions".

In a statement read in Newcastle Crown Court one of the victims said the men were "monsters" who got her addicted to drugs and said she no longer trusted men.

Another said that she still had flashbacks to the parties six years ago where girls where given drugs and then persuaded or forced to have sex with different men.

A third victim said the men thought "they are superior to women, and girls do not have the same rights as men".


Heroin dealer Jahangir Zaman, 45, was convicted of raping a girl by forcing her to give him oral sex and sentenced to 29 years behind bars.

He was also found guilty of conspiracy to incite prostitution, drugs offences and, following a separate police investigation, conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine.

Image: Mohammed Azram has been sentenced to 12-and-a-half years behind bars

Mohammed Azram, 35, was sentenced to 12-and-a-half years for causing sustained psychological damage to his victims, who thought he was a friend.

Prosecutors said Azram, who picked up his victims from a courtyard in the city's west end, played a "leading role" in the scheme.

One of his victims said he took her to a party where she saw another girl being treated like a slave.

Prosecutors said: "(The witness) described her as looking upset, she was dirty, the bedclothes were dirty, her clothes were ripped."

The court heard the men would drop things on the floor and make her pick them up.

Azram admitted one count of sexual assault, one count of inciting prostitution and a number of drugs offences.

A convicted child rapist was controversially employed by Northumbria Police to investigate the group.

The informant was called XY and was paid £10,000 for his information.

More members of the gang will be sentenced later this week.