A 65-year-old British Pakistani man, known as Boss Man, a grooming gang ringleader, was sentenced to 35 years in prison for raping two schoolgirls in Rochdale. Mohammed Zahid, father of three children, who showed a “chilling disregard” for the girls, was one of seven men convicted in June of committing a range of sexual offences between 2001 and 2006. He gave the girls free underwear from his market stall, expecting regular sex for him and his friends in return, BBC reported.Mushtaq Ahmed, 67, Kasir Bashir, 50, Mohammed Shahzad, 44, Naheem Akram, 49, Nisar Hussain, 41, and Roheez Khan, 39, also received lengthy prison sentences at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court. The court heard how the girls were sexually exploited from the age of 13 in filthy flats, car parks, alleyways, and disused warehouses in the Greater Manchester town. Referred to as Girl A and Girl B, they were treated as “sex slaves” and expected to “have sex with the men whenever and wherever they wanted.” Both girls, who were not acquainted with each other, had “deeply troubled home lives” and were provided with drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, and places to stay by the men, the court was told.During the sentencing, Judge Jonathan Seely described the treatment of the girls by the “predatory” men as “appalling.” He said, “They were abused, degraded and then discarded. It would have been obvious to these men that they craved the attention that their home lives didn’t provide. They felt they had little or no choice but to submit to the almost incessant sexual abuse meted out to them.” All the paedophiles worked either at the market or as taxi drivers, the court heard. Girl A informed the jury that she may have been preyed on by hundreds of men as her phone number was circulated, adding, “there was that many it was hard to keep count.” She told local children’s services in 2004 that she was “hanging around” with groups of older men, drinking and smoking cannabis, the court was told. Girl B, who was residing in a children’s home when she encountered the men at the market, claimed that police and social workers were aware of the situation but “weren’t concerned enough to do anything about it.” She said, “It was in my file, when I looked it up. I read it. I was picked up by the police for loitering and prostituting from the age of 10.” Social services and police have previously apologised for their past failings regarding the girls. The convictions and sentences in full were as follows: – Pakistan-born Mohammed Zahid of Station Road, Crumpsall, was convicted of raping Girl A and Girl B, indecency with a child, and procuring a child to have sex and was jailed for 35 years. Mushtaq Ahmed, 67, of Corona Avenue, Oldham, and Kasir Bashir, 50, of Napier Street East, Oldham, both born in Pakistan, were convicted of repeated counts of rape and indecency with a child in relation to Girl B and were jailed for 27 and 29 years respectively. Mohammed Shahzad, 44, of Beswicke Royds Street, Rochdale; Naheem Akram, 49, of Manley Road, Rochdale; and Nisar Hussain, 41, of New Field Close, Rochdale, were convicted of repeated counts of rape against Girl A and were jailed for 26, 26, and 19 years respectively. Pakistan-born Roheez Khan, 39, of Athole Street, Rochdale, was found guilty of a single count of rape against Girl A and jailed for 12 years. In 2016, Zahid was jailed for five years after being convicted of engaging in sexual activity in 2005 and 2006 with a 14-year-old girl whom he met when she visited his stall to buy tights for school. Bashir was sentenced in his absence after he absconded while on bail before the trial commenced. Detective Chief Inspector Guy Laycock from Greater Manchester Police stated that the men “preyed on the girls’ vulnerability for their own depraved sexual gain.” He added, “This horrific abuse knew no limits, despite their denials throughout this lengthy investigation and court case. They had a callous disregard for these women when they were girls and continue to show no remorse for their unforgivable actions all these years later.” Liz Fell, specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, commended the men for exploiting the teenagers’ “difficult circumstances” and praised the victims for coming forward. She said, “Both victims have shown an enormous amount of strength and dignity throughout what has been a lengthy and challenging legal process.” Go to Source
