Huddersfield child sex abuse: Six men guilty of grooming Published duration 24 October 2019

image copyright PA image caption The men will be sentenced at Leeds Crown Court on 1 November

Six men have been convicted of grooming and sexually abusing vulnerable girls.

Leeds Crown Court was told how three girls from Huddersfield were offered cigarettes, alcohol and drugs before being raped by older men.

The offences date back to between 2005 and 2008, when the girls were aged from 12 to 16.

Prosecutor Richard Wright QC said that the men who abused the girls knew they were children but "did not care about it for a moment".

He added: "These men cared only for themselves and viewed these girls as objects to be used and abused at will."

Mr Wright said the girls had been abused and passed between other men for sexual purposes, with threats and violence being used to force them to comply.

The court heard how, prior to and during the alleged offences, the complainants had been "deliberately avoiding home and people in positions of authority".

Umar Zaman, 31, and Samuel Fikru, 32, both of William Street, Huddersfield, were each convicted of two counts of rape, with Banaris Hussain, 36, being convicted of one count of the same offence.

A 32-year-old man was convicted of five counts of rape, another 32-year-old male was found guilty of a single count of the same offence, and a 38-year-old man was found guilty of attempted rape.

A 39-year-old woman was cleared of arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence, while jurors were unable to reach a verdict on whether a man aged 31 had committed a single charge of rape.

The prosecution said a decision on whether or not to re-try him would be made when those who were convicted are sentenced at Leeds Crown Court on 1 November.

Their names cannot be reported for legal reasons.

Another man, 32-year-old Mohammed Arif, of New Hey Road, Huddersfield, was cleared of a single count of rape.