Keighley grooming gang members given jail sentences
British Broadcasting CorporationEight men involved in a West Yorkshire grooming gang were jailed in the late 1990s.
Three of the men – Ibrar Hussain, 47, Imtiaz Ahmed, 62, and Faiyaz Ahmed, 45 Brother Fayaz Ahmed, both from Keighley, was sentenced for rape at Bradford Crown Court on Friday.
They were found guilty of assaulting two girls following trials in November and December 2024.
Five other men were jailed last year for their involvement. Reporting restrictions on the case have now been lifted, meaning details can be released.
The court heard the offenders targeted two children.
Hussain, Imtiaz and Fayaz Ahmed were all sentenced for raping one of the girls, who was between 13 and 14 years old at the time of the crime.
Catherine Duffy, prosecuting, said the girl was “extremely vulnerable and isolated when she was targeted”.
In a victim impact statement, the woman, now in her 40s, said: “If I had been listened to earlier rather than later, maybe, just maybe, my life might have been different.
“I’ve been through so much, so young, and I’m still trying to repair the trauma that other people have inflicted on me.”
Judge Ahmed Nadeem said the girl’s mother had tried “multiple times” to report her disappearance to police but no action was taken.
Judge Nadeem said police and social services “either did not have the capacity to properly understand what was happening on the streets” or were “not interested in meeting (the victims’) needs”.
He said: “The responses of social services and the police to their own situations, to varying degrees, suggest that they are the source of their own misfortune.”
“I lost my identity”
The victim said she was “drugged and alcohol numbed to numb the abuse.”
Testifying at the trial, she recalled a time when men “lined up” in the hallway of her apartment to have sex with her.
She said she was “groomed” which was then “infected to other men” and later became addicted to alcohol and drugs, which she used as a “coping mechanism”.
“Nothing in this world can ever make up for the damage I’ve experienced – the loss of my identity because of them.”
Hussain, of Mornington Street, was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison for two counts of rape, to be served concurrently.
Judge Nadeem told the hearing he injected the girl with heroin and had sex with her on two occasions. He was between 18 and 19 years old at the time.
In an attempt to mitigate the situation, Jayne Beckett said Hussain, who was later jailed for drug offenses and is now married with children, is a “very, very, very different person” who is involved in the local mosque and school activities.
Judge Nadeem told Hussain his crimes “come back to haunt you and those who love you dearly”.
“The message must be sent loud and clear: the criminal justice system will do whatever it takes to protect young and vulnerable members of our communities,” he said.
Hussein smiled and waved to his family in the public gallery before being led away to begin his sentence.
The court heard that Imtiaz and Faiyaz Ahmed absconded last year during the retrial and are believed to be abroad.
Former Devonshire Street resident Fayaz Ahmed was jailed for seven-and-a-half years in his absence on two counts of rape.
Imtiaz Ahmed, formerly of Dawson Road, was jailed for nine years on one count of rape.
Judge Nadeem said the brothers met through a couple who “exercised control” over the victim.
“They made her work as a sex worker,” he told the court.
The court heard Imtiaz Ahmed, believed to be 35, married with children, raped the girl in a vacant apartment above his family’s shop.
Judge Nadeem said his “pretense of being a family and community man was nothing more than a pretense”.
Fayaz Ahmed fired his lawyer before absconding, traveling with the girl and another man to “the school playground or the woods” where they took turns raping her.
Fayaz should have been aware of her vulnerability, the court heard, and was 17 or 18 at the time of the offences.
“Painful and arduous road”
After sentencing the trio, Judge Nadeem said he hoped the sentences would give victims “the reassurance that their voices are finally being heard”.
“They have had to walk a painful and arduous path. I commend them for their courage and determination,” he said.
In a statement released after Friday’s hearing, West Yorkshire Police listed the five men convicted in 2023:
- Amreaz Asghar, 47, from Keighley, jailed for four years and six months for rape
- Perwaz Asghar, 50, of Nottingham, was jailed for six years and six months for two indecent assaults
- Mohammed Din, 47, from Keighley, sentenced to 14 years for 11 counts of rape
- Sajid Mahmood Khan, 45, from Keighley, jailed for three years for rape
- Zehroon Razak, 47, also from Keighley, was jailed for six years and six months for rape.
Police said all five, except Din, who raped two girls, were convicted of crimes against the first victim.
Detective Inspector Vicky Greenbank said: “These types of cases are extremely sensitive and complex and it took many years of painstaking investigation to bring them to court.”
She also praised the two victims for coming forward and said they had shown “tremendous patience” with the investigation and “courage” during the court proceedings.
Police said arrest warrants have been issued for Imtiaz Ahmed and Faiyaz Ahmed.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced the three-month plan on Thursday “Quick review” Looking at the “current scale and nature of gang-based exploitation across the country”.
Cooper said the review would look at “the racial data and demographics of the gangs involved and their victims,” as well as “cultural and social drivers.”
She said the government would also support “victim-centred” local investigations in Oldham and four other “pilot” areas.
It comes after opposition parties, including Conservative MP for Keighley and Ilkley Robbie Moore, called for a new investigation into the grooming ring.
“Many people, including myself, are concerned that the scale of the problem in the Bradford area will dwarf Rotherham,” Moore said.
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