A grooming gang was jailed for sexually abusing vulnerable young girls in Rotherham yesterday, as a judge criticised the "totally ineffectual" authorities for failing to protect the victims.

Seven girls, all under 16 at the time, were plied with alcohol and drugs and threatened with violence by five predatory men who used them as "sexual objects" between 1998 and 2002, Sheffield Crown Court heard.

Some of the victims were raped by multiple gang members in the South Yorkshire town and the surrounding areas, with one telling jurors: "They took my childhood away".

Judge Michael Slater said that after presiding over the five-week trial, he was "quite satisfied" that the "relevant authorities" in Rotherham were aware of how vulnerable girls were being targeted for sexual exploitation.

He described their inaction as a "lamentable state of affairs", saying they were at best "totally ineffectual" and, at worst, "wholly indifferent", the BBC said.