Gang of men who committed ‘sickening’ sexual abuse in Rochdale after plying girls with vodka and drugs found guilty

I have been checking the cause list daily, throughout the course of the trials, then every day of the two weeks the jury were deliberating. There were some blogable news reports at intervals within the reporting restriction and I tried to catch them. From the Manchester Evening News with photograph from the Daily Mail

A gang of men who plied young girls with alcohol and drugs before sexually abusing them have been found guilty of a series of crimes. Eight men had gone on trial accused of a catalogue of offences alleged to have occurred in Rochdale.

Following a three month trial, five men face jail sentences for their role in the abuse. Mohammed Ghani, Insar Hussain, Jahn Shahid Ghani, Martin Rhodes and Ali Raza Hussain Kasmi will be sentenced later this year.

Three men were cleared of all wrongdoing. Ikhlaq Yousef, Aftar Khan and Mohammed Iqbal were discharged from the dock.

The girls were abused as teenagers. Prosecutors said the men exploited the ‘young, vulnerable and damaged children’. He said not all of the men knew each other, but that the gang was ‘centred’ around 38-year-old Mohammed Ghani, known as ‘Gunny’.

“The men would provide the girls vodka, drugs and apparent affection in order to persuade them that they were genuinely liked by the men, and not just being used for sex,” prosecutor Neil Usher said.  Girl A believed she was in a ‘genuine relationship’ with Ghani, who would ‘offer her out’ to his friends for sex. Ghani would tell her that he’d ‘love her even more if she did that for him’.

When she refused to have sex with a man named ‘Doc’ she was called a ‘bitch,’ and a ‘slag’ and thrown out of a car. Jahn Shahid Ghani, Ghani’s brother, was accused of giving drugs to both complainants before sexually abusing them.

Insar Hussain, a friend of Mohammed Ghani, sexually abused her ‘a lot’, Girl A said. Martin Rhodes denied rape but admitted sexually abusing both complainants.

Ali Raza Hussain Kasmi threatened Girl B with a knife during one incident, it was alleged. During the trial, Girl A was forced to deny she was ‘not in it for the money’.

Jahn Shahid Ghani was the only defendant to give evidence at the trial. He admitted having sex with both girls but denied wrongdoing, claiming he thought Girl A was 18 and Girl B was 19 at the time.

The unanimous verdicts in full:

• Mohammed Ghani, 38, of Bamford Way, Rochdale, was found guilty of five counts of penetrative sexual activity with a child. He was found not guilty of ten counts of rape, one count of having sexual intercourse with a child, two counts of indecency with a child, one count of penetrative sexual activity with a child and two counts of buggery.
• Insar Hussain, 36, of Bishop Street, Rochdale, was found guilty of one count of rape and two counts of having penetrative sexual activity with a child. He was found not guilty of six counts of rape, two counts of having sexual intercourse with a child, three counts of indecency with a child, one count of having penetrative sexual activity with a child and one count of trafficking a person for sexual exploitation
• Jahn Shahid Ghani, 50, of Whitworth Road, Rochdale, was found guilty of six counts of penetrative sexual activity and one count of causing a child to engage in sexual activity. He was found not guilty of eight counts of rape and two counts of penetrative sexual activity with a child.
• Martin Rhodes, 39, of Dinmore Avenue, Blackpool, was found not guilty of two counts of rape. He previously pleaded guilty to two counts of penetrative sexual activity with a child.
• Ali Raza Hussain Kasmi, 36, of Brotherod Hall Road, Rochdale, was found guilty of one count of rape and two counts of indecency with a child. He was found not guilty of one count of rape and two counts of penetrative sexual activity with a child.
• Ikhlaq Yousef, 38, of Stanley Street, Rochdale, was found not guilty of two counts of indecency with a child, two counts of rape, two counts of having penetrative sexual activity with a child, and one count of causing a child to engage in sexual activity.
• Aftar Khan, 34, of Sparth Bottoms Road, Rochdale, was found not guilty of three counts of rape, three counts of indecency with a child and two counts of having penetrative sexual activity with a child.
• Mohammed Iqbal, 67, of Gainsborough Drive, Rochdale, was found not guilty of two counts of paying for sexual services of a girl under the age of 18.

They will be sentenced at Minshull Street Crown Court at a later date.