Twenty Five Men Now Sentenced In Major Kirklees Child Sexual Abuse Investigation

A news release from West Yorkshire Police supplemented by reporting from the Daily Mail and the Sun

More than 20 ‘sexual predators’ have been jailed for a total 346 years after eight young girls in West Yorkshire were raped, abused and trafficked over 13 years.

The 24 men were arrested after West Yorkshire Police’s discovery of their years-long campaign of abuse, which has been described as ‘abhorrent in the extreme’.

Operation Tourway uncovered rape, sexual abuse and trafficking of eight girls in the North Kirklees area, including the towns of Batley and Dewsbury, between 1999 and 2012.

Reporting restrictions on a series of five trials over two years were lifted on Friday after the sentencing of the last seven men at Leeds Crown Court, police confirmed on Saturday. 24 of them – some of which are smirking in their mugshots – can now be identified for the first time following the lifting of strict reporting restrictions.

This isn’t the only operation either. I watch the two public lists of Crown Court trials (the third list didn’t survive lockdown) but they don’t say much, and sometimes nothing at all. Cases appear, then names become asterisks, then it disappears from the list, to reappear weeks later.

I know, as a former court clerk, the necessity of protecting the identity of the complainants and witnesses, also the need to avoid any jury of a later trian being prejudiced through knowledge of a previous trial. But I cannot rid myself of an unease that the use of the reporting restrictions is being abused to keep public opinion from exploding with anger, rather than thecorrect use to maintain the purity of the evidence presented to the jury. 

Among the group is Asif Ali, 53 – caged for 24 years – whose crimes were on a scale that police said ‘can barely be believed

Khurum Raziq (42) from Heckmondwike sentenced to 22 years after being found guilty of eight offences of rape.

Nasar Hussain (46) from Dewsbury sentenced to 18 years after being found guilty of three rape offences.

Zafar Qayum (44) from Dewsbury sentenced to 30 years for six counts of rape, five counts of indecent assault and three counts of aiding and abetting rape.

Ansar  Qayum (47) from Dewsbury was sentenced to 20 years for four counts of rape and one offence of attempted indecent assault.

Mohammed Jabbar Qayum (43) from Dewsbury was sentenced to 13 years for two offences of rape committed against one victim.

Mohammed Imran Zada (45) from Batley sentenced to 15 years for four offences of rape and an offence of sexual activity with a child  – 15 years

Michael Birkenshaw (37) from Wakefield was sentenced to eight years for an offence of rape.

Amran Mehrban (40) from Batley sentenced to 13 years for two offences of rape and an offence of assault by penetration
Sarkaut Yasen (38) from Dewsbury sentenced to 15 years for an offence of trafficking and three offences of aiding and abetting rape.

Mohammed Saleem Nasir (48) from Dewsbury sentenced to 19 years for three offences of rape and an offence of aiding and abetting rape.

Irfan Khan (37) from Batley sentenced to 12 years and five years extended licence for three offences of rape and an offence of  making threats to kill

Omar Farooq Hussain (39) from Batley was sentenced to 18 years for four offences of rape.

Sarfraz Hussain Riaz (40) from Dewsbury was sentenced to 15 years for two offences of rape and an offence of attempted rape.

Zafar Iqbal (38) from Batley was sentenced to 17 years for an offence of indecency with child, trafficking and three offences of rape.

Nasar Iqbal (38) from Batley was sentenced to 10 years for an offence of trafficking and an offence of rape

Mohammed Chothia (47) from Batley was sentenced to 17 years for four offences of rape and an offence of trafficking

Bilal Patel (42) from Leicester was sentenced to 13 years for an offence of trafficking and an offence of rape.

Asif Ali (53) from Batley was sentenced to 24 years for 14 counts of rape, two offences of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and offences of trafficking for sexual exploitation, intentionally encouraging or assisting an offender and aiding, abetting or procuring rape.

Mohammed Tauseef Hanif (39) from Dewsbury was jailed for nine and a half years for an offence of rape.

Ali Shah (38) from Dewsbury was sentenced to 10 years for one offence of rape.

Moshin Nadat (38) from Heckmondwike was sentenced to seven and a half years for one offence of rape.

Safraz Miraf (49) from Dewsbury was sentenced to four and a half years for an offence of attempted rape

Mohammed Nazam Nasser (38) from Batley was sentenced to seven and a half years for an offence of rape

Amir Ali Hussain (45) from Batley was sentenced to eight years for an offence of rape.

Dedicated safeguarding detectives began investigating non recent reports concerning some of the men from 2015 with more suspects being uncovered as enquiries progressed.

Arrests were conducted from November 2018 across the West Yorkshire area.
All of the suspects were charged in December 2020 with court proceedings starting on December 11

The men above have been sentenced as part of five trials heard at Leeds Crown Court between 2022 and 2024

I know there is a case from Halifax where the result has never been released.  A case in Bradford listed for sentence that has not yet been reported. What have I missed as one woman can’t check every Crown court site, every day?