More than two dozen men have been thrown behind bars after eight young girls in West Yorkshire were raped, abused and trafficked over a period of 13 years in the UK. The abuse that lasted years in Kirklees and was dubbed “abhorrent in the extreme” resulted in a total of 346 years in prison for the 24 sexual offenders. The latest sentencing took place at Leeds Crown Court on 26th April as the men were apprehended after West Yorkshire Police learned of their acts.
Operation Tourway, a multi-year investigation into the sexual exploitation of young girls in North Kirklees, which includes the towns of Dewsbury and Batley, looked at incidents that transpired between 1999 and 2012. The perpetrators were awarded a total of 346 years in prison for the crimes they committed between 1999 and 2012 against the victims.
Heckmondwike resident Khurum Raziq (42) received a 22-year term for eight rape offences. Nasar Hussain (46) of Dewsbury was given an 18-year sentence for three rape crimes.36 counts of rape, 5 acts of indecent assault, and 3 counts of aiding and abetting rape resulted in a 30-year sentence for Dewsbury resident Zafar Qayum (44). 47-year-old Ansar Qayum of Dewsbury was sentenced to a 20-year term for four rape offences and one attempted indecent assault charge. Mohammed Jabbar Qayum (43) of Dewsbury was handed down a 13-year term for two rape offences. 45-year-old Batley resident Mohammed Imran Zada obtained a 15-year sentence for four counts of rape and having intercourse with a child under the age of fifteen.
Wakefield resident Michael Birkenshaw (37) obtained an eight-year term for rape. 40-year-old Amran Mehrban from Batley was awarded a 13-year term for two rape offences and one assault by penetration. 38-year-old Sarkaut Yasen of Dewsbury was given a 15-year sentence for three counts of aiding and abetting rape and trafficking. Dewsbury resident Mohammed Saleem Nasir (48) was given a 19-year term for three rape offences as well as one for aiding and abetting rape. Irfan Khan (37) of Batley was found guilty of three charges of rape and uttering death threats. He was given a 12-year sentence with a five-year parole. Batley resident Omar Farooq Hussain (39) received an 18-year term for four rape offences.
40-year-old Sarfraz Hussain Riaz of Dewsbury earned a 15-year term for two rape convictions and one attempted rape offence. 38-year-old Batley resident Zafar Iqbal was given a 17-year term for three rape offences, child trafficking and obscenity. Rape and trafficking charges resulted in a ten-year term for Batley resident Nasar Iqbal (38). Batley resident Mohammed Chothia (47) received a 17-year sentence for four counts of rape and trafficking. Bilal Patel (42) of Leicester was handed a 13-year term for his involvement in human trafficking and rape. 53-year-old Batley resident Asif Ali received a 24-year sentence for 14 charges of rape, two counts of forcing or inciting a child to engage in sexual conduct and crimes of trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation, purposeful encouragement or assistance of an offender and aiding, abetting or procuring rape.
Mohammed Tauseef Hanif (39) from Dewsbury was convicted of rape and sentenced to nine and a half years in prison. 38-year-old Ali Shah, a Dewsbury resident received a 10-year term for rape. Heckmondwike resident Moshin Nadat (38) was jailed for a seven-and-a-half-year term for rape. 49-year-old Safraz Miraf of Dewsbury was given a four-and-a-half-year term for trying to commit rape. 38-year-old Batley resident Mohammed Nazam Nasser received a seven-and-a-half-year term for rape. Batley resident Amir Ali Hussain (45) received an eight-year term for rape.
Reporting limitations pertaining to multiple trials conducted over a two-year period were removed after eight individuals were recently sentenced at Leeds Crown Court. More than twenty years in prison were imposed on four of the individuals found guilty in the series of trials. Jurors were presented with details of “absolutely shocking offending,” according to West Yorkshire Police where victims were treated like “defenceless commodities to be abused and traded at whim.”
“The conviction and sentencing of these latest eight men represents a significant milestone for victims in this case. Their bravery in coming forward and identifying their abusers has allowed us to take action against men whose offending and behaviour can only be described as abhorrent in the extreme. Now that reporting restrictions have been lifted we can, for the first time, disclose full details of all those sentenced so far in what has been a long trial process. Throughout the last two years, juries have heard details of absolutely shocking offending committed against victims in these cases,” remarked Detective Chief Inspector Oliver Coates, of West Yorkshire.
He pointed out, “Some of these men received in excess of 20 years each for the multiple offences they committed and the unbelievably callous and degrading way in which they treated these then-young girls. Men such as Asif Ali, who alone was found guilty of 14 rape offences, committed appalling sexual abuse on a scale which can barely be believed, and saw their young victims as defenceless commodities to be abused and traded at whim.”
He praised the woman who had come forward to narrate their ordeals. “Far from being powerless, however, those young women have instead fought back as adults and forced them to account for their crimes. They displayed real courage and determination in giving evidence through what have been lengthy trials and supporting our investigations. I hope they can find some closure and satisfaction in knowing they have enabled police and partners to mount a huge and highly difficult investigation which has taken sexual predators off our streets for years to come.”
With their conviction, a total of 25 people have been punished for their roles in the trafficking, rape and sexual abuse of the girls in the probe. An additional individual was placed under a hospital order following court proceedings. As safeguarding investigators probed into the matter, they discovered other suspects in relation to the reports they had received regarding some of the males from 2015. They were charged in December 2020 after a wave of arrests took place around West Yorkshire starting in late 2018. Court proceedings started on 11th December and they were sentenced in five trials that Leeds Crown Court heard between 2022 and 2024.
Grooming jihad in the UK
Grooming jihad has reared its head time and again in the United Kingdom. Many regulatory loopholes have allowed the culprits to evade punishment, including the authorities’ fear of being labelled as racists because the majority of these crimes are committed by Muslim males, especially those from Pakistan. Grooming jihad is occurring on a far larger and more terrifying scale with teenagers particularly minor girls. October of last year witnessed the charging of Omar, Khalid, Jameel, and twenty-one other people in Bradford with four years of child rape.
Sexual abuse scandals were discovered in a series of locations, including Huddersfield, Rotherham, Rochdale, Oxford, Bristol, Peterborough and Newcastle. Young British females were sexually assaulted and mistreated by primarily Muslim male gangs. The nation was shocked by the vast number of victims and the sexual offences committed against them. The disappearance of Charlene Downes from Lancashire was one of the most horrifying cases. It was feared that Muslim gangs groomed her and then ended her life. Her body was allegedly minced into pieces and served as kebabs to customers at a takeaway restaurant in the area.
Nearly 19,000 adolescents in England are estimated to have been sexually groomed from 2018-2019, based on government numbers. England’s local authorities have identified approximately 18,700 potential victims in the aforementioned year, compared to 3,300 five years prior. The data revealed a notable rise in the number of children who have been groomed during the previous five years. Bradford, Lancashire, and Birmingham had the highest recorded rates of child grooming victims in the United Kingdom.
According to a report by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), there has been an 82% increase in online grooming offences against youngsters over the past five years. UK police have registered nearly 34,000 internet grooming crimes against minors. Primary school students were the target of 1 in 4 of these crimes committed in the previous 5 years. 73% of crimes took place on social media applications, Snapchat and Meta.
Research conducted by the charitable Sikh Mediation and Rehabilitation Team unveiled that Pakistani men have been raping and abusing Sikh girls in Britain for many years. The report asserted that the concerns were “recklessly ignored” by the police due to “political correctness” and mentioned, “The research has found verification demonstrating a history of predominantly Pakistani grooming gangs targeting young Sikh females for over 50 years. The over-representation of such perpetrators in selecting non-Muslim victims would appear to be indicative of a wider acceptability in certain sections of the community towards the targeting of young females from outside of the Pakistani community and/or Muslim faith.”
UK’s clamp down on grooming jihad
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak formed a new Grooming Gangs Taskforce to assist law enforcement authorities in investigating the serious problem of Muslim grooming gangs in the country. According to an official announcement from his office in April of last year, the task force will have specialized police to assist in the investigation to guarantee that the criminals accountable for breeding gangs would be brought to jail. The task group, led by the police, will get support from the National Crime Agency. Its investigators will have a plethora of experience probing these groups. The task force’s objectives are to break up grooming gangs and lock up the culprits.
The statement additionally noted that data analysts would be assigned to the task force in order to use data and information to determine the various criminal types that commit these offences. Furthermore, data analysis will assist law enforcement in apprehending criminals who may otherwise avoid punishment. The UK has previously experienced several issues, chief among them the supposed cultural sensitivities that led to critical events such as these being dismissed. Police-recorded ethnicity data will be incorporated into the new system to ensure that suspects cannot avoid punishment solely on the basis of their ethnicity.
Furthermore, he promised to make sure the ringleaders and members of the grooming group received the worst punishments for their crimes. The government would also draft legislation, demonstrating its commitment to applying the most severe penalties possible for these offences, to include the grooming gang leader as a statutory aggravating factor during sentencing.
