Judgment day for sex beasts

NINE men found guilty of being part of a child sexual exploitation ring involving vulnerable girls will be sentenced today.

The 10–week trial was told that the men — eight from Pakistan, one from Afghanistan — groomed the teenage girls because they were vulnerable.

The jury of three men and nine women heard the defendants plied the girls, some as young as 13, with food, drink and drugs so they could “pass them round” and use them for sex. The offences happened in and around Rochdale in 2008 and 2009.

The court heard that some of the girls were raped and physically assaulted and some were forced to have sex with “several men in a day, several times a week”.

It took the jury 21 hours and 22 minutes to reach all their verdicts. Police said one victim was forced to have sex with 20 men in one night when she was drunk.

Abuse began at the Tasty Bites and the Balti House takeaways, both in Market Street, Heywood. Those takeaways are now under new management.

A team of 20 officers worked for 12 months on the case, interviewing 47 victims or witnesses.



NOT GUILTY: Liaquat Shah (41), of Kensington Street, Rochdale, was found not guilty of two counts of rape and the jury was unable to reach a verdict on the conspiracy allegation. The prosecution said they would not seek a retrial and Judge Gerald Clifton ordered the formal return of a not guilty verdict.
Qamar Shahzad (30) of Conisborough, Rochdale, was found not guilty of conspiracy.



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