Nine 'pure evil' men who abused girls as young as 13 were today jailed for a total of 77 years for their roles in a child sex grooming ring.

Following an 11-week trial, a jury found the nine men, from Rochdale and Oldham, guilty of several counts of sexual abuse over a two-year period.

They were convicted on the back of evidence from five girls, who were as young as 13 when the abuse happened between 2008 and 2010.

The vulnerable girls, some of them runaways or in the care of social services, were given the attention they craved before being plied with drink, raped and driven all over the north to have sex with other men.

Today the men were all jailed at Liverpool Crown Crown.

A 59-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was jailed for 19 years convicted of two counts of rape, one sex assault, one of trafficking and conspiracy.

Kabeer Hassan, 24, of Lacrosse Avenue, Oldham, was jailed for nine years after he was convicted of rape and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child.

Abdul Aziz, 41, of Armstrong Hurst Close, Rochdale, was jailed for nine years after he was convicted of trafficking and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child. He was also cleared of two counts of rape but

Abdul Rauf, 43, of Darley Road, Rochdale, was jailed for six years after being convicted of trafficking and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child.

Mohammed Sajid, 35, of Jepheys Street, Rochdale, was jailed for 12 years after he was convicted of conspiracy, sexual activity with a child, rape and trafficking. Earlier in the trial the jury was ordered to find him not guilty of one rape charge.

Adil Khan, 42, of Oswald Street, Rochdale, was jailed for eight years after he was convicted of conspiracy and trafficking.

Abdul Qayyum, 43, of Ramsay Street, Rochdale, was jailed for five years after he was convicted of conspiracy.

Mohammed Amin, 44, of Falinge Road, Rochdale, was jailed for five years after he was found guilty of sex assaults and conspiracy.

Hamid Safi, 22, of Kensington Street, Rochdale, was jailed for four years after he was convicted of trafficking and conspiracy. He was also found not guilty of two counts of rape.

All the convicted men have been placed on the Sex Offenders' Register for life.

Two other men were found not guilty. Qamar Shahzad and Liaqat Shah were acquitted of all charges.

Jailing the nine men Judge Gerald Clifton said: "You have all been convicted by the jury after a long trial of grave sexual offences which were committed between the spring of 2008 and 2010.

"These involved the grooming and sexual exploitation of several girls, aged in their early teens.

"In some cases those girls were raped, callously, viciously and violently.

"Some of you acted as you did to satiate your lust, some of you to make money, all of you treated them as though they were worthless and beyond respect.

"I believe that one of the factors that led to that was that they were not of your community or religion."

The court heard most of the men are from Rochdale's Pakistani community and were married with children.

They worked as taxi drivers or in the Tasty Bites and Balti House in Heywood where some of the victims were given free kebabs and vodka as they were groomed for sex.

The trial heard how the men abused a string of white girls.



Judge Gerald Clifton added: “In some cases they were driven around Rochdale and Oldham to be made to have sex with paying customers.



“Most of you were many years older than they were. They were going through a period in their lives full of difficulty and misery.



“One had left her parents' home. Another had been in care for many years.



“You attracted them to your company by flattery, free food and alcohol.



“Some of you raised in the trial the suggestion that this prosecution was triggered by racial factors. That's so much nonsense.



“As I have said what triggered this prosecution was your lust and greed."



Judge Clifton, jailed the 59-year-old man for 19 years, described him as an "unpleasant and hypocritical bully".



He said Kabeer Hassan had "slyly" tried to throw police off the scent during his interview.



Abdul Aziz was an "intelligent man" who had "coerced" girls into having sex with men, said Judge Clifton.



The judge described Abdul Rauf as a "deeply hypocritical individual" while he said Adil Khan was also "hypocritical".



The judge said Hamid Safi would be deported at the end of the proceedings, telling him "I believe you were there to attract young girls because of your own youth

that gave a veneer of respectability to another wise suspect set up. You had no right to be in this country.

Detectives say the victims were targeted because they were vulnerable and available, not because they were white.

Following the convictions, it has now emerged that police believe up up to 47 girls may have been abused by the men, although only five were willing to give evidence during trial.

Detectives also believe there could be up to 50 other men who took part in the grooming but remain at large.

After the convictions, Det Chf Supt Mary Doyle, described the defendants as 'pure evil'.

She said: "These offences are the worst offences you can possibly imagine against vulnerable young children.

"Let's not shy away from the fact the victims are children. It was an incredibly difficult and complex case to investigate not least because of the amount of support the victims understandably required throughout.

"It was pure evil. They were exploiting the vulnerable in our society for their own gratification.

"They groomed their victims who introduced them to other girls. They thought it was a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship.

"They would supply them with alcohol and kebabs and free taxi rides and actually some of the girls thought they were in a genuine relationship. It was sustained.

"They were raped and subjected to humiliation and degradation. You cannot think of a worse set of offences. In some instance it was several men at a time. These girls were just passed around other men.

"People deal with things in a different way. How this is going to manifest itself with the individuals concerned, I would suggest each one is very different.

"This sends out a clear message that we are willing to investigate and will investigate these kinds of offences until these people are brought to justice."

The prosecution's main witness first came to the police in August, 2008.

While spending the next eleven months investigating her allegations, she and other girls were continuing to be abused.

The Crown Prosecution Service concluded the girl was 'not credible' and two men who had been arrested were released without charge.

The abuse continued until May, 2010, when police decided to revisit the case.

Greater Manchester Police and the CPS have now apologised.

More on the Rochdale sex grooming case:

This story was updated on May 16 2017 to include a timeline of events of the Rochdale grooming scandal