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| Three brothers jailed over Rotherham child sexual abuse | Three brothers jailed over Rotherham child sexual abuse |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The three brothers at the head of the Rotherham grooming ring have been sentenced to 35 years, 25 years and 19 years in prison. | The three brothers at the head of the Rotherham grooming ring have been sentenced to 35 years, 25 years and 19 years in prison. |
| There were gasps of “yes” from the victims who packed the public gallery when the ringleader, Arshid Hussain, was told he was going to be jailed for 35 years for 23 serious child sexual exploitation crimes. | There were gasps of “yes” from the victims who packed the public gallery when the ringleader, Arshid Hussain, was told he was going to be jailed for 35 years for 23 serious child sexual exploitation crimes. |
| His brother Basharat was jailed for 25 years while a third brother, Bannaras, who pleaded guilty to 10 offences, was sentenced to 19 years. | |
| The Hussains and three others sentenced at Sheffield crown court for their part in targeting, brutalising and sexually abusing 15 young girls over a 16-year period, had caused “unimaginable harm” to their victims, to their families and the Rotherham community, the judge, Sarah Wright, said. | The Hussains and three others sentenced at Sheffield crown court for their part in targeting, brutalising and sexually abusing 15 young girls over a 16-year period, had caused “unimaginable harm” to their victims, to their families and the Rotherham community, the judge, Sarah Wright, said. |
| Qurban Ali, the Hussains’ uncle, was sentenced to 10 years in jail while Karen MacGregor, who lured girls to her home and then pimped them out, got 13 years. | Qurban Ali, the Hussains’ uncle, was sentenced to 10 years in jail while Karen MacGregor, who lured girls to her home and then pimped them out, got 13 years. |
| Shelley Davies, who stayed at MacGregor’s house, becoming one of her associates, was given an 18-month suspended sentence after her barrister successfully argued that she too had been a victim, having been trafficked as a 15-year-old. | Shelley Davies, who stayed at MacGregor’s house, becoming one of her associates, was given an 18-month suspended sentence after her barrister successfully argued that she too had been a victim, having been trafficked as a 15-year-old. |
| The 14 victims of the Rotherham grooming ring were made to feel “dirty, ashamed, and guilty”, with years of rape, indecent assault and forced prostitution causing severe mental health problems, eating disorders, depression and self-loathing, the court had heard. | The 14 victims of the Rotherham grooming ring were made to feel “dirty, ashamed, and guilty”, with years of rape, indecent assault and forced prostitution causing severe mental health problems, eating disorders, depression and self-loathing, the court had heard. |
| The court was packed on Friday with victims and their families there to witness the sentencing of the six for 55 serious offences of child sexual exploitation. | The court was packed on Friday with victims and their families there to witness the sentencing of the six for 55 serious offences of child sexual exploitation. |
| Related: Rotherham child abuse trial: four men and two women found guilty | Related: Rotherham child abuse trial: four men and two women found guilty |
| Michelle Colborne QC, prosecuting, read a selection of victim statements, describing how the brothers acted like “a pack of animals” – in one case urinating on a victim. | Michelle Colborne QC, prosecuting, read a selection of victim statements, describing how the brothers acted like “a pack of animals” – in one case urinating on a victim. |
| “In the main, the girls were made to feel dirty, ashamed, guilty,” Colborne said. “Between them [they suffered] a plethora of eating disorders, self-harm, self-loathing; [there were] terminations for many of them – some at the age of 14 – events they have never been able to put behind them.” | “In the main, the girls were made to feel dirty, ashamed, guilty,” Colborne said. “Between them [they suffered] a plethora of eating disorders, self-harm, self-loathing; [there were] terminations for many of them – some at the age of 14 – events they have never been able to put behind them.” |
| The court heard previously that five of the victims had been made pregnant over the period when the Hussains waged their campaign of terrifying sexual abuse and violence against vulnerable girls in the town. | The court heard previously that five of the victims had been made pregnant over the period when the Hussains waged their campaign of terrifying sexual abuse and violence against vulnerable girls in the town. |
| Colborne said she had visited one victim before she gave evidence. “She was shaking involuntarily, as she had done in the video, and was almost physically sick at the prospect of giving evidence. She suffered periods of severe depression, leaving her incapable of functioning at times.” | |
| Colborne told the judge that the victim would rarely leave her house and struggled to let anyone into her home. “At the age of 32, I still regard anyone as a threat,” wrote the victim in her impact statement. | |
| The jury heard that this woman was taken as a girl to Blackpool, where she was locked up for weeks and told she had to “pay her way”. On returning to Rotherham she had chlamydia, gonorrhoea and nits from the ordeal. | |
| Wright said the women who endured the degrading and brutal abuse as children should not feel ashamed of what happened. “They thought the Hussain brothers were people who they could look up to, they could trust and in their vulnerability, in their youth, they felt it was appropriate to spend time with them and do what they were told,” she said. | Wright said the women who endured the degrading and brutal abuse as children should not feel ashamed of what happened. “They thought the Hussain brothers were people who they could look up to, they could trust and in their vulnerability, in their youth, they felt it was appropriate to spend time with them and do what they were told,” she said. |
| One victim’s relative told the court her sister was “a broken human being” as a result of the abuse. | |
| The victims and families, who sat in the public gallery and the well of the court, watched Arshid Hussain appear via videolink from prison to plead for leniency in the sentencing. | The victims and families, who sat in the public gallery and the well of the court, watched Arshid Hussain appear via videolink from prison to plead for leniency in the sentencing. |
| He had previously made just one appearance in court, claiming that after a shooting in 2005, he was a paraplegic and not well enough to stand trial. “He will be wheelchair-bound for the rest of his natural days,” argued Tahir Khan QC, defending. “A long sentence will be more difficult for this paraplegic than it would be for an able-bodied man.” | |
| Khan said some of the girls had testified that they had given consent to some of the sexual relations and this should be considered by the judge. | Khan said some of the girls had testified that they had given consent to some of the sexual relations and this should be considered by the judge. |
| The court also heard on Friday of a missed opportunity to bring the gang to justice earlier. Colborne said a police officer drove off when he discovered one of the the men abusing a young girl in his car. | |
| Opening the case against Bannaras Hussain, who pleaded guilty to 10 offences including multiple rapes and indecent assault against seven girls, the prosecution recounted how he was able to carry out his criminal activities in plain view of the police. | Opening the case against Bannaras Hussain, who pleaded guilty to 10 offences including multiple rapes and indecent assault against seven girls, the prosecution recounted how he was able to carry out his criminal activities in plain view of the police. |
| Colborne said Bannaras, known locally as Bono, had taken the girl, who was 12 or 13, to a car park near Rotherham police station. He made the girl perform a sexual act on him in the front of the car while her sister sat in the back. | |
| “When shortly afterwards, a police car pulled up alongside them and asked what they were doing, Bannaras shouted: ‘She’s just sucking my cock, mate.’ The police car drove off,” Colborne said. | “When shortly afterwards, a police car pulled up alongside them and asked what they were doing, Bannaras shouted: ‘She’s just sucking my cock, mate.’ The police car drove off,” Colborne said. |
| Another of Bannaras Hussain’s victims, a drug addict since the age of 11, was abused continually for two or three years and forced into prostitution by Arshid Hussain in the red-light area of Doncaster, but also abused in a house in Masbrough, Rotherham. | |
| “The house was run like a brothel,” said Colborne. “No one was ever introduced by a real name, but she spent her time stoned on drink and drugs.” The court heard she was regularly beaten up by Arshid and Bannaras Hussain, who would strike her with a pool cue. | |