LONDON – A sick gang of seven South Asian ‘predatory’ men have been convicted of sexually abusing young girls – in a van they labelled the ‘shag wagon’.
The depraved grooming ring, described by a judge as ‘predatory and cynical’, were convicted on Friday after a lengthy five-month trial, which began on October 9, 2017, reported UK’s Metro Newspaper Monday.
A jury of four women and seven men took a record-breaking 107 hours and 31 minutes, over the course of 24 days, to reach their verdict
The men, who denied their part in the child sexual exploitation, indecent assaulted, raped, and imprisoned five victims between 1998 and 2005.
During the trial, Oxford Crown Court heard accounts from the victims, all of whom were aged between 13 and 15 at the time, who said they were plied with drink and drugs. A number of the women also recalled a vehicle driven by the men regularly referred to as the ‘shag wagon’ – with a licence plate ending ‘SHG’. Judge Peter Ross, who presided over the trial, said once the final verdicts were handed out: ‘Systematic and widespread grooming, that is what this case has revealed.
Assad Hussain was convicted of three counts of rape and Khalid Hussain was convicted of one rape and one indecent assault.
“The investigation has involved countless hours of work and [the police] are entitled to commendations for the work they have done,” the Judge said
He also thanked jurors for their ‘assidious’ and ‘phenomenal’ dedication to the case in returning their verdicts, following the longest jury deliberation in Oxford Crown Court history.
The lengthy trial saw seven defendants convicted – Raheem Ahmed, Moinul Islam, Kamran Khan, Kameer Iqbal, Khalid Hussain, Alladitta Yousaf and Assad Hussain. #IBelieveHer rallies held across Ireland in protest over Ulster Rugby rape trial verdict Two others who stood trial, Saboor Abdul and Haji Khan, were acquitted of all charges. Two other men involved in proceedings cannot be named for legal reasons.
The court heard throughout the trial how the seven men on numerous occasions coerced the girls into sex at a number of addresses across Oxford. These included at guest houses, in cars parked at lay-bys, and at local parks.
Prosecutor Oliver Saxby QC said: “Each of the young girls we are dealing with shared one very important characteristic, they were vulnerable. Kamran Khan was convicted of assault and false imprisonment. Moinul Islam raped and supplied drugs to the victims.
During the trial one victim recounted how she would be pressured into sex at numerous locations across Oxford, between February 1998 and February 2001. She said this took place at Shotover woods, at lay-bys outside the city and near Oxford City FC’s ground Court Place Farm. Easter 2018 opening times for Morrisons, Waitrose, Asda and Iceland She told jurors how Assad Hussain, Kameer Iqbal, Khalid Hussain and Alladitta Yousaf had all indecently assaulted or raped her on various occasions.
Another woman, who was aged 14 at the time, was sexually assaulted by Moinul Islam, the court heard, while at Cronin’s B&B in Iffley Road. In other instances of abuse the girls were plied with drink and drugs as part of what prosecutors called the ‘grooming process’.
They were made to take part in ‘sex parties’ at a number of addresses across Oxford involving large groups of men. At one such party, which took place at a flat in London, one girl said that she was forced into sex with Khalid Hussain. Alladitta Yousaf indecently assaulted a young girl.
Kameer Iqbal will be sentenced for three counts of rape. A number of the woman also recalled a black Nissan Serena people carrier in which many sexual abuses are alleged to have taken place, including gang rape. Shocking picture shows BMW crushed by overturned lorry One woman said of the vehicle: ‘They would pick the girls, have sex with them, and dump them. Everything happened in that Serena.’ The same woman said that the men would ‘take it in turns’ to have sex with her and that gang rapes would take place after she was plied with booze and drugs. The men will be sentenced at Oxford Crown Court in June.
Charges for the sick gang Raheem Ahmed, 40, of Starwort Path, Oxford, was convicted of two counts of indecent assault and one count of false imprisonment. He was cleared of one count of rape. Moinul Islam, 41, of Wykeham Crescent, Oxford, was convicted of two counts of indecent assault, one count of rape and one count of supplying cannabis to another. He was cleared of false imprisonment. Kamran Khan, of Northfield Road, Bolton, was convicted of indecent assault and false imprisonment. He was cleared of one count of rape.
Kameer Iqbal, 38, of Dashwood Road, Oxford, was convicted of three count of rape. Khalid Hussain, 37, of Ashhurst Way, Oxford, was convicted of one count of rape and count of indecent assault. He was cleared of another count of rape.
Alladitta Yousaf, 47, of Bodley Road, Oxford was convicted of one count of indecent assault. Assad Hussain, 37, of Iffley Road, Oxford, was convicted of two counts of indecent assault, three counts of rape and two counts of conspiracy to rape. He was cleared of one count of indecent assault. Saboor Abdul, 37, of Oxford Road, Cowley, one of only two defendants to take to the stand, was unanimously cleared of a single count of rape.
Haji Khan, 37, of Littlegreen Lane, Birmingham, was cleared of one count of conspiracy to rape and one count of indecent assault.
