Rotherham child abuse scandal: Hundreds more under investigation after seven found guilty

From The Times the Telegraph and the Rotherham Advertiser

More than 420 suspected offenders are under investigation in a £100 million criminal inquiry triggered by the Rotherham sex grooming scandal, it has been revealed. The figure was released by the National Crime Agency (NCA) as seven men were convicted of multiple past offences against five teenage girls, one of them aged 13, in the South Yorkshire town.

One victim told jurors she had sex with “at least 100 Asian men” by the age of 16. Another described a gang-rape by men who threatened to abandon her in a forest unless she complied with their demands.

The trial that ended today at Sheffield crown court was one of 22 current Stovewood sub-operations.

The NCA file on another sub-operation, with 36 suspects, is expected to be sent to the Crown Prosecution Service within the next two months. Paul Williamson, the head of the inquiry, said its scale was daunting. His team is actively engaged with more than 290 of 1,523 potential victims they have now identified.

Some 90 per cent of them were white British girls aged 11 to 18, while 80 per cent of the designated NCA suspects are of Pakistani origin, including six of the seven men convicted today. The seventh was of Yemeni heritage. (something links them …) 

Mohammed Imran Akhtar (37), of Godstone Road, Rotherham, was found guilty of three counts of indecent assault, one count of rape, procuring a girl to have unlawful sex with another, aiding and abetting Tanweer Ali to commit rape, and sexual assault.

Nabeel Kurshid (35), of Weetwood Road, Rotherham, was found guilty of two counts of rape and one of indecent assault.

Asif Ali (33), of Clough Road, Rotherham, was found guilty of two counts of indecent assault and was acquitted of one count of indecent assault.

Iqlak Yousaf (34), of Tooker Road, Rotherham, was found guilty of two counts of rape and two counts of indecent assault.

Salah El-Hakam (39), of Tudor Close, Sheffield, was found guilty of one count of rape.

Tanweer Ali (37), of Godstone Road, Rotherham, was found guilty of two counts of indecent assault, two counts of rape, and one count of false imprisonment.

Another man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found guilty of two counts of rape and aquitted of abducting a child and rape.

Ajmal Rafiq (39), of Warwick Street, Rotherham, was acquitted of all charges which were one count of indecent assault and one count of false imprisonment.

L-R TOP: Iqlak Yousaf , Asif Ali, Tanweer Ali: BOTTOM L-R; Salah El-Hakam, Nabeel Kurshid, Mohammed Imran Akhtar

The seven guilty men were remanded into custody and are due to be sentenced on November 16.