Six men guilty over sexual abuse of two schoolgirls in Aylesbury
Men participated in abuse of two girls from troubled backgrounds, one of whom, while aged 12 or 13, was passed between 60 mainly Asian men
Fri 24 Jul 2015 11.27 EDT Last modified on Wed 29 Nov 2017 09.04 EST
The jury took more than 42 hours to find six of the men guilty at the Old Bailey. Photograph: Alamy
Six members of a child sexual assault ring in Aylesbury have been found guilty of participating in the abuse of two schoolgirls which went on for years on a massive scale.
Eleven men went on trial for 51 offences between 2006 and 2012, including multiple rape of a child under 13 and administering a substance to "stupefy" a girl in order to engage in sexual activity.
The jury took more than 42 hours to find six of them guilty of a range of offences against the girls, who spent days giving evidence and being cross-examined at the Old Bailey.
Four defendants were cleared, while the jury could not decide on one of them. Sentencing was adjourned to 7 September.
The men groomed the victims by buying them gifts such as alcohol, DVDs, food and, occasionally, drugs.
While aged just 12 or 13, one of the girls, known in the trial as A, was passed between 60 mainly Asian men to be sexually abused after being conditioned into thinking it was normal behaviour, jurors were told.
The vast majority of the charges related to this child, while three charges related to girl B.
Prosecutor Oliver Saxby QC told the jury the youngsters were "easy prey for a group of men wanting casual sexual gratification that was easy, regular and readily available".
He said the girls' ideas of what was right had been completely distorted, and that they thought what was happening was normal and natural.
Saxby told jurors: "Notwithstanding that they were children, they spoke in terms of these men being their boyfriends. And they were passed from man to man – sometimes on a daily basis.
"The scale of it is, you may agree, horrifying. A estimated that she had sex with about 60 men – six zero – almost all Asian."
Many of the defendants were friends from the Aylesbury area. Some were married and had children, with some working in the market and a few working as taxi drivers. Each of the men sexually abused A, while two are said to have molested B, the court heard.
The men gave no reaction as the verdicts were given. The men filled the dock in court, some of them using the services of various interpreters speaking Hindi, Urdu, Pashto and Punjabi.
Vikram Singh, 45, of Cannock Road, Aylesbury, was found guilty of four counts of rape and administering a substance with intent. Asif Hussain, 33, of Hodge Lea, Milton Keynes, was convicted of three counts of rape.
Arshad Jani, 33, of Cousins Drive, Aylesbury, was found guilty of rape and conspiracy to rape. Mohammed Imran, 38, of Springcliffe Street, Bradford, was convicted of three counts of rape, one count of conspiracy to rape and one count of child prostitution.
Akbari Khan, 36, of Mandeville Road, Aylesbury, was found guilty of two counts of rape, administering a substance with intent, and conspiracy to rape. Taimoor Khan, 29, of Highbridge Road, Aylesbury, was convicted of one count of sexual activity with a child.
Sohail Qamar, 41, of St Anne's Road, Aylesbury, was cleared of two counts of rape, and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. Sajad Ali, 34, of Brockhurst Road, Chesham, was found not guilty of sexual activity with a child.
Faisal Iqbal, 32, of Pixie Road, Aylesbury, was cleared of rape and sexual activity with a child. Harmohan Nangpal, 41, of Langdale Drive, Hayes, was cleared of rape and sexual activity with a child.
The jury could not decide on charges against Jerome Joe, 35, of Pightle Crescent, Buckingham. He denies one count of rape and a single count of sexual activity with a child.
Following a legal argument midway through the trial, the judge, John Bevan, had directed that not-guilty verdicts be recorded on six charges in the 51-count indictment.
In one statement, A told police: "You get passed round ... It wasn't particularly me looking for them. It was them looking for me. It's just that they pass your number around ... Or you're with one of them and they invited three or four of their friends round and then you have to sleep with them.
"Because you're in their place and they're making your life a bit more exciting, so you do what they want."
She said she thought the men found her attractive, and was happy to be wanted, knowing that Asian men wanted to sleep with her.
Giving evidence, child A recalled one occasion when Asif Hussain – also known as Lucky – had introduced her to a man who looked like the late al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden and encouraged her to sleep with him.
She said: "Lucky wanted to introduce me to a friend so I said OK. The old man looked like Bin Laden. I think he said, 'He wants to sleep with you,' and left me there." She added: "[The old man] only understood yes or no – and I said no."
Asked about her statement that Hussain had encouraged her by saying: "Come on, he's going to give you money," the girl said she could not remember but it might have been said.
David Johnston, Buckinghamshire county council director for children's services, apologised to the two young victims, saying: "We are as appalled as all parents and the community of Buckinghamshire will be by the despicable acts of cruel abuse committed by those found guilty at the Old Bailey today.
"These girls were just children when they became victims to such manipulation that lasted so many years.
"I want to thank each of these young women for taking the brave step to come forward, to speak to the police and relive their horrific experiences in court to bring these men to justice.
"On behalf of the council, I would also like to apologise to both of them for letting them down during this period in their lives. We know a great deal more about child sexual exploitation than we did back then and I hope that young people who are worried about themselves or someone they know will have the same courage to come forward."
Some wording in this article was amended on 25 July 2015 to conform with Guardian guidelines on the reporting of sexual abuse of children.