Judge slams authorities as five jailed for sex abuse

AUTHORITIES were “totally ineffectual” or “wholly indifferent” to the plight of sexually exploited teenage girls in Rotherham, a judge said as he jailed five men for between four and 24 years.

Aftab Hussain (40), was sentenced to 24 years in prison, and Abid Saddiq (38), to 20 years by the judge at Sheffield Crown Court, who described Saddiq as a “cunning and determined sexual predator”. Masaued Malik (35), was jailed for five years; Sharaz Hussain (35), for four years; and one man who cannot be named for legal reasons was jailed for 10 years. Malik was told that his sentence will follow on from a 15-year term he is already serving for similar offences.

Judge Michael Slater said that, after sitting through the trial of the five men, he was “quite satisfied” that the “relevant authorities” were well aware of the way vulnerable teenagers in the South Yorkshire town were being targeted for sexual exploitation more than a decade ago.

Judge Slater called it a “lamentable state of affairs”, saying that the authorities at the time were at best “totally ineffectual” and, at worst “wholly indifferent”.

Yesterday’s sentencing followed the latest trial to arise out of Operation Stovewood — the massive National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation into the sexual exploitation of teenagers in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013. A total of 20 men have now been convicted and the NCA has said it believes 1,510 people were victims in the town. During the five-week trial, the jury heard that vulnerable girls were given alcohol and drugs before some were raped by multiple men.

Referring to the defendant who cannot be named for legal reasons, the judge said: “I cannot think of a worse violation of a young girl by those who purported to be her friends.”

Another man, who also cannot be named for legal reasons, was also found guilty of offences earlier this week and will be sentenced at a later date, as will a seventh defendant, Mohammed Ashan, who pleaded guilty to sex offences at a previous hearing.

The NCA now has more than 200 people working on Operation Stovewood.