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Rotherham: Seven men found guilty of sexually abusing two girls in care home

Image description, Mohammed Siyab and Abid Saddiq were both convicted of rape and Siyab was also convicted of human trafficking.

  • Author, Julia Bryson
  • Role, BBC News

Seven men have been found guilty of abusing two young girls in Rotherham. The girls were often taken from the children’s homes where they lived and raped or sexually abused.

The National Crime Agency (NCA), which investigated the case, said the evidence was among the “most shocking” it had ever found.

The girls, who were aged between 11 and 16 at the time, were manipulated and pumped full of alcohol or drugs before being abused, the NCA added.

The men were found guilty after a nine-week trial at Sheffield Crown Court.

Her case was part of Operation Stovewood, the largest investigation into child abuse in the UK.

Image description, Tahir Yasin was found guilty of eight counts of rape and Ramin Bari of four counts.

Operation Stovewood was launched in the wake of the Jay Report, published in 2004, which found that between 1997 and 2013, at least 1,400 girls in Rotherham were abused, trafficked and sexually abused by gangs of predominantly Pakistani origin.

The NCA said the abuse in this case took place in several locations across the city, including in a park, in a car in a supermarket car park, in a cemetery and even behind a kindergarten.

The jury was told how one of the girls was taken to a hotel where she was raped by two men.

The same girl was also imprisoned in the house of one of her tormentors, where she was raped at least twice before escaping through a window.

Image description, Mohammed Zameer Sadiq, Yasser Ajaibe and Mohammed Amar were also found guilty at Sheffield Crown Court
  • Mohammed Siyab, 44, of Stevenson Drive, Rotherham, was found guilty of two counts of rape, sexual intercourse with a girl under 13 and trafficking within the UK for the purposes of sexual exploitation.
  • Abid Saddiq, 43, formerly of Rotherham, was found guilty of three counts of rape, including one of a girl under 13, and of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl.
  • Tahir Yasin, 38, of Burngreave Street, Sheffield, was found guilty of eight counts of rape
  • Ramin Bari, 37, of Derby Street, Sheffield, was found guilty of four counts of rape
  • Mohammed Amar, 42, of Elizabeth Way, Rotherham, was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault of an 11-year-old girl.
  • Yasser Ajaibe, 39, of Walter Street, Rotherham, was found guilty of indecently assaulting an 11-year-old girl.
  • Mohammed Zameer Sadiq, 49, of Richard Road, Rotherham, was found guilty of rape and sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 13.

The verdicts will be announced on September 12 and 13.

“Dehumanizing victims”

Stuart Cobb, NCA senior investigator, said: “The statements made by these victims are among the most harrowing we have ever heard and the offences are among the most serious that Operation Stovewood officers have investigated to date.”

“I pay tribute to the courage of these two victims in coming forward and telling their stories. That was key to these convictions and I hope they feel that justice has finally been done.

“What happened to them was horrific. Their attackers were cruel, manipulative men who thought it was okay to take advantage of vulnerable young girls and dehumanize their victims in the worst possible way.”

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