Seventh man jailed for rape of underage girl targeted by grooming gang
VICTIM RAPED IN ARMED DRUG DEALER’S FLAT
A SEVENTH man has been jailed for raping an underage girl in Huddersfield.
The 37-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, raped the girl in an armed drug dealer’s flat between 2005 and 2007.
He went on trial last month alongside six other men in relation to the sexual exploitation of two girls between 1995 and 2007.
Opening the trial, prosecutor Kate Batty had told jurors at Leeds Crown Court: “It was a flat that she went to more than once and in which she had sex more than once.
“[The owner of the flat] was in his 40s, he was involved in drugs and he had a gun which [the victim] saw.
“This gives you an idea of the environment that [the girl] was living in and, perhaps, an idea of why she felt compelled to comply - spending time in older men’s flats and other men having sex with her.
“This defendant was one of those men who did exactly that.”
The defendant was convicted of one count of rape on Tuesday and jailed for eight years on Thursday.
The other six men were given prison sentences of up to 15 years and totalling 55 and a half years on Wednesday.
These included: Usman Ali, 34, of
Park Drive, Huddersfield; Gul Riaz, 44, of Balmoral Avenue, Crosland Moor; Banaras Hussain, 39, of Scarborough Road, Shipley; and Abdul Majid, 36, of Lightcliffe Road, Crosland Moor.
Meanwhile, another man has been cleared of repeatedly raping an underage girl in a park.
Saqib Raheel had been accused of attacking the girl on multiple occasions in Greenhead Park, Huddersfield, between 2005 and 2007.
The 33-year-old was due to go on trial in January this year alongside others.
But the prosecution had offered no evidence to his two charges at a brief hearing on November 1.
However, Mr Raheel, of Upper High Street in Cradley Heath, West Midlands, could not be named in media coverage until a reporting restriction was updated last month.
A woman has been cleared of helping paedophiles sexually abuse children in Huddersfield.
Fehreen Rafiq was accused of arranging or facilitating the commission of child sex offences in the area between around 2005 and 2008.
The 39-year-old, of Blackmoorfoot Road, Crosland Moor, faced two charges in relation to two complainants.
She was one of 10 people who went on trial last September 10.
But the decision was taken to review the evidence of one of the complainants during the trial and a new jury was sworn in the following week.
The trial started again, this time with three complainants and Ms Rafiq accused of one offence.
On October 24, the jury convicted six of her male co-defendants but acquitted her of that offence.
The prosecution offered no evidence to the second charge in relation to the second complainant and a formal not guilty verdict was entered at a mention hearing on November 1.
However, she could not be named in media coverage until a reporting restriction was updated last month.