Three Somali men who gang raped a 16 year old British girl while celebrating Eid have been handed jail terms of between nine and twelve years by a judge at Manchester Crown Court. The court played host to extraordinary scenes as around 60 Mancunian Somalis turned out in support of the gang, insisting they had been victimised because of their race.

Muhyadeen Osman, Bilal Ahmed and Mowled Yussuf, all now 20 years old, were found guilty of raping a 16 year old girl at the Victoria Park Hotel in Manchester (pictured), where they were staying with a group of other men to celebrate the Muslim holiday of Eid. They were 17 at the time, the Daily Mail has reported.

The girl was lured to the hotel by one of their friends, Ibrahim Jama, who had met her via Blackberry Messenger. He told her she should come to the hotel to “meet his boys”.

At the hotel the group told her they were playing a game of going into rooms to hide from the porter. Once they found an unlocked room they turned on the girl, taking turns to have sexual relations with her against her wishes.

Yussuf first forced the girl to perform a sex act on him in the bathroom, before Ahmed did the same. Despite the girl repeatedly telling the group that she did not want intercourse, Ahmed then raped her. At that point Osman, who had been standing guard outside, came into the room, moved her to the bed and raped her.

After the attack the group dispersed, leaving her alone. At that point she realised that her mobile phone and cash had also been taken.

Now a university student, the girl said she was still afraid to leave the house and that her academic work had suffered.

Judge David Hernandez said the group had seen the girl as “easy prey” as he handed Yussuf ten years for rape, oral rape and assault by penetration. Ahmed was handed a sentence of nine years for oral rape, while Osman got twelve years as an unconnected mugging in which he stole rings and a mobile phone was also taken into account.

Outside the courtroom a group of around 60 Somalis from Manchester protested the verdicts, insisting that the men had only been found guilty because of their race and the fact that the victim was a white British girl. Piling into the public gallery they gasped as the sentences were read out. Yussuf flicked his middle finger at the mother of the girl.

Pleading on behalf of Osman, lawyer Michael Goldwater : “What these defendants did wrong is allowing themselves to believe this young lady was willing to perform virtually any sex act on all of them, and failing to make an enquiry about her willingness or indeed to care very much one way or the other.

“These were young, immature men who got carried away.”

But Judge Hernandez disagreed, saying during his ruling: “This was a large group of young men in a hotel and the inference is you all saw her as easy prey.

“She didn’t really understand what was on your mind and that is probably because she was a naïve and sexually inexperienced and vulnerable young girl.

“When you were running around that hotel she probably saw this as innocent, childish fun, but it all turned sinister when you got her into the bathroom. She found herself in a situation she was totally unable to control.

“She found herself confronted with demands for sexual activity she did not wish to engage in and did not willingly consent. She had no choice and no opportunity to refuse.”

Jama, who convinced her to perform a sex act on him in an alleyway before leading her to the hotel, was cleared of rape.