Woman abused from age of 11 ‘drawn into world of fear, rape and horrific abuse’

A woman who was sexually exploited by a number of men in Rotherham from the age of 11 and made pregnant when she was 12 has told a court: “I feel my child was the product of pure evil.”

There were chaotic and emotional scenes at Sheffield Crown Court after two of six men jailed for sex offences relating to the woman and another victim shouted “Allahu Akbar” – translated as “God is greater” – as they were led from the dock.

As their supporters began shouting down into the packed courtroom, one of the victims shouted back “justice is served” as police moved into the public gallery.

Both victims had watched as Basharat Dad was jailed for 20 years and five other men, including two of Dad’s brothers, were given prison sentences of more than 10 years for offences against the women between 1999 and 2001.

The girl’s pregnancy at the age of 12 made headlines in 2001 when she was portrayed as one of Britain’s youngest ever mothers.

Although five men were arrested, there were no prosecutions at the time after the victim told police she could not say which of a number of men she had had sex with was the father.

But Judge Sarah Wright told the court that DNA analysis on defendant Amjad Ali has shown “that it was 60 million times more likely that you were responsible for her pregnancy rather than an unknown male”.

Judge Wright said Ali was not one of the five men named by the girl in 2001.

She told him: “I have no hesitation in finding that you had sexual intercourse with her when she was heavily under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs such that she was unable to remember you.”

The victim, in an impact statement read to the court, said: “There’s evil and truly evil people in the world. I feel my child was the product of pure evil.”

The woman, who listened as prosecutor Sophie Drake read out her words, said: “I was drawn into a world of fear, rape and horrific abuse.

“I lost my childhood at the hands of those men.”

She described how she was shunned by many in her community who called her worse things than “dirty, cheap slag”.

She said: “No-one understood. No-one wanted to understand.

“I felt lost, isolated, trapped, ashamed and completely worthless.

“I was completely owned by these dirty old men who would do with me whatever then wanted, whenever they wanted.”

Judge Wright paid tribute to the woman, saying: “As a result of what happened to her, her childhood and adolescence was taken from her.

“She remarkably transformed her life from thereon, putting her own child first.

“Hers is a tale of the most astonishing dedication and bravery.”

The court heard how the girl was plied with alcohol and drugs from the age of 11 when she began being sexually exploited by a number of men.

The sentencing marks the end of a series of three major trials after Professor Alexis Jay’s shocking report on child sexual exploitation (CSE) in Rotherham described how more than 1,400 children had been groomed, trafficked and raped in the town over a 16-year period.

The three trials – based around two unrelated families and their associates – have resulted in 18 people being jailed for sentences totalling more than 280 years and are the last following South Yorkshire Police investigations.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) has taken over all historic Rotherham CSE investigations with a team of more than 100 working on more than a dozen inquiries.

Last year, the NCA said it had engaged with 133 victims and survivors but investigators were confident that Prof Jay was right when she said the total was around 1,400.

The agency said it was looking at hundreds of potential suspects.

Basharat Dad, 32, of Eldon Road, Rotherham, was found guilty of six counts of rape, five of indecent assault and one of false imprisonment and jailed for 20 years.

Nasar Dad, 36, of Cranworth Road, Rotherham, was found guilty of one count of rape, inciting indecency with a child and false imprisonment and jailed for 14 years and six months.

Tayab Dad, 34, of St Lawrence Road, Tinsley, Sheffield, was found guilty of rape and jailed for 10 years.

Matloob Hussain, 42, of Doncaster Road, Rotherham, was found guilty of sexual intercourse with a girl under 13 and jailed for 13 years.

Mohammed Sadiq, 40, of Oxley Grove, Rotherham, was also found guilty of sexual intercourse with a girl under 13 and jailed for 13 years.

Amjad Ali, 38, of Broad Lane, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, pleaded guilty last year to sexual intercourse with a girl under 13 and was jailed for 11 years.

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