Detectives investigate groomer’s alleged link to woman’s ‘gang rape’

POLICE have re-opened a cold case allegedly involving a member of the Huddersfield grooming gang following an Examiner probe.

A woman claims she was picked up by a man named Shaq, also known as Niaz Ahmed, who was pretending to be a taxi driver one night in 2003 and sexually assaulted by him in a park in Huddersfield.

She believes she was also raped by other men during the incident after being drugged.

She said she went to a police station the next day but said officers were aware of who the man was but ‘did nothing.’

She said she was told that they would need to check CCTV footage in the area and took her clothes for DNA testing, but all she got out of it was a leaflet for a rape helpline in the post.

West Yorkshire Police could not find a record of the report, but confirmed they are investigating the case. A spokesman for the force said: “West Yorkshire Police has been unable to identify a related call based on the current information provided. However, arrangements are in hand to meet with the victim to secure an account and investigate the matter.

“Anyone who has been victim of sexual abuse is urged to come forward and speak to the police via 101 so it can be investigated thoroughly.”

The woman is due to give recorded evidence to the police this week.

Niaz Ahmed is due to be sentenced for his part in the Huddersfield grooming gang – which plied young victims with drink and drugs before sexually abusing them – on Thursday.

Speaking exclusively to the Examiner, the vulnerable woman claims she was targeted by Niaz Ahmed when she was in her early 20s.

She said it happened on July 26, 2003. She remembers the date because it was a friend’s birthday.

She said: “I looked younger than I was. I had been to a friend’s house party with my friends and they had all had a big fall out.

“I stayed behind for a bit and as I left the house I didn’t realise how drunk I was.

“I was walking down Trinity Street towards town when a car pulled over and asked me if I needed a taxi. Naively, I got in.”

She said the man offered her a drink from a soft drink bottle and she drank from it.

“I was so drunk I didn’t even think,” she said.

“Then I completely almost instantly just went really funny – my mind seemed to go completely black.

“I remember trying to open my eyes and seeing faces.

“I remember seeing trees so it must have been Greenhead Park.

“I remember seeing a blur of faces and I remember saying, ‘Please don’t hurt me.’” I don’t remember what happened to me.”

But she does remember some key details about before and after the alleged attack.

She said: “I remember him saying