Four men have today been sentenced at Leeds Crown Court to a total of 51 years for child sexual exploitation.
Tariq Islam (sentenced to 13 years), Nasir Sultan (12 years), Amir Zaman (11 years) and Zafar Iqbal (15 years) were sentenced for committing rape and other sexual offences against a child aged 12 to 14 between May 2010 and September 2012 and were convicted by a jury yesterday.
Also convicted of offences of a sexual nature were Arshid Younis, Abid Younis, Farahk Younis, Junaid Rashid, Shazabe Hussain, Zafar Iqbal and Awais Butt. They will be sentenced at a later date.
Andrew Penhale, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor, CPS Yorkshire and Humberside said:
“Ten individuals have been convicted of offences which involve a shocking catalogue of child sexual exploitation. The victim was targeted by older men precisely because of her youth and vulnerability. The offences involved an appalling breach of trust - the victim was groomed and plied with cigarettes, alcohol and drugs to make her compliant. The defendants then showed a complete lack of remorse for their actions, with ten of them claiming throughout the contested trial that the allegations were fabricated, or that they believed the victim to be over 16.
“The victim of these terrible crimes has shown immense courage, not only to make a complaint initially but to then give evidence in a long and complicated trial. The prosecution of these men could not have succeeded without her evidence. We hope that the convictions/sentences handed down today will help her to begin to rebuild her life.
“This was a complex and difficult matter to bring to court and prosecuting it has required extremely detailed and painstaking work. It demonstrates that the use of special measures such as screens or giving evidence over video-links, helps vulnerable victims of even the most horrifying sexual exploitation to give their account before a criminal court.
“The Crown Prosecution Service and West Yorkshire Police have the utmost determination to prosecute sexual abusers of children wherever we are able to and to support victims through the criminal justice process.”
