Umar Zaman is one of five men sentenced in the latest case against a large Huddersfield grooming gang

A member of the Huddersfield grooming gang was sentenced to eight years today - but has not been sent to prison because he is on the run in Pakistan.

Umar Zaman, 31, was ordered to serve eight years when he was one of the latest five men jailed over an Asian grooming gang who preyed on girls as young as 12 in the West Yorkshire town.

A judge branded the gang's activities 'vile and wicked' and said they 'defy understanding'. He said one young victim was left bleeding on the ground of a park after her virginity was taken.

But the court heard that Zaman, who was convicted of two counts of rape, will not be beginning his sentence after he absconded and is believed to be in Pakistan.

A total of 27 men have now been convicted following West Yorkshire Police's Operation Tendersea investigation into child sexual exploitation in the town, with prison sentences totalling more than 300 years.

Samuel Fikru, 32, of Huddersfield, was also jailed for eight years today, also for two counts of rape.

Three other men, aged between 32 and 38 but who cannot be named for legal reasons, were given sentences of between seven and 14 years.

Five men were sentenced today, the latest of 27 members of the Huddersfield grooming gang

Judge Geoffrey Marson QC told the five men convicted last week: 'The way these girls were treated defies understanding. This abuse was vile and wicked. None of you has expressed any remorse for what you did.'

Jailing one 32-year-old defendant, Judge Marson said: 'You took the virginity of a particularly vulnerable 12-year-old and left her bleeding on the floor in the park.'

He said this defendant also subjected another teenage girl to a 'campaign of rape', abusing her on a regular basis in a Huddersfield park, using sleeping pills to subdue her.

Judge Marson told Leeds Crown Court that Operation Tendersea involved 'a large number of men, principally Asian men', who have been charged in relation to 'the grooming and sexual abuse of a large number of children'.

The judge described how vulnerable girls were plied with drugs and alcohol and passed between men in Huddersfield.

He said they thought they were being shown genuine affection but this was an illusion 'deliberately created to enable predatory men to perpetrate gross sexual abuse for their own perverted gratification'.

Leeds Crown Court has hosted a series of cases against the gang, with another man to be sentenced on Monday

Judge Marson described how one terrified 12-year-old was targeted by the men who used her phone to locate her despite attempts to move her.

He said: 'One night the house phone rang and a man asked for the girl and said "tell her I want to f*** her".

'After three days the girl was moved to another foster carer in another city and again she was quickly located.

'There were repeated calls from Asian men saying "can you tell her we want to f*** her".

'The girl was absolutely terrified and said that if the carer gave the sim card to the police "they will find me and kill me".'

A sixth defendant, Banaris Hussain, 36, also of Huddersfield, was convicted of one count of rape, and will be sentenced on Monday.