Groomed victim calls rapists 'scum' as they are jailed

Two cousins who groomed vulnerable teenage girls to rape and pass them to other men were branded "scum of the earth" by a victim in court as they were jailed.

Manzorr Hussain, 54, and Imtiaz Ali, 53, who both ran stalls at Bury market, were convicted of multiple offences against five girls aged 13 and 16, now adults, in the town in the late 1990s.

At Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court, Hussain, of Bury, was jailed for 30 years for seven counts of rape and seven counts of indecent assault against five girls.

Ali, of Radcliffe, was jailed for 28 years for five counts of rape, five counts of indecent assault and one attempted indecent assault.

The offences mainly took place in Bury but also elsewhere in the region and parts of Wales, including at houses, in cars, a hotel and a car dealership.

Hussain waved to members of his family who were sitting in the public dock as he was sent down.

His older brother, Ghulam Hussain, 64, was arrested during the police investigation but fled the country, did not stand trial, and is believed to be in Pakistan.

Ali began abusing the girls with his relatives shortly after his arrival in the UK from Pakistan in 1996.

One victim, who tearfully read her victim impact statement to the court shielded by screens, said some men would come to her school to pick her up and she suffered three years of rape and sexual abuse from the age of 13, leading to "30 years of shame".

She added: "You are nothing better than paedophiles, rapists and scum of the earth. You are the lowest of the low."

Every agency or individual who had "covered up or turned a blind eye are all complicit" she told the court.

Judge Bernadette Baxter told Hussain and Ali: "You have shown not one jot of remorse or insight into your behaviour.

"Your offending can properly be described as a campaign of rape."

The trial heard all five girls were sexually abused by the brothers and cousin in the late 1990s mainly in Bury.

The girls were often given a variety of drugs along with alcohol before Ali and Hussain would take turns to rape them.

On one occasion, both trapped one girl in the back of a car and she was forced to perform a sex act on the men one after the other.

One girl, then aged 14 or 15, was taken by Hussain with another girl to a flat in Bury, where he arranged with a gang of men to rape and sexually assault her.

Another victim was threatened that she would be abandoned naked on the moors above Bury if she did not obey, the trial heard.

Outside court, Ch Insp Ian Partington, of Greater Manchester Police, thanked the victims for their "powerful testimony".

He added Hussain and Ali were "sexual predators who deliberately targeted vulnerable young girls" and thought they had got away with their crimes - but the first brave victim who came forward opened up the whole case.

Claire Brinton, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said the sentences reflected the "severity of the appalling crimes" the men had committed.

She added: "The defendants showed no remorse for their actions, which have had a lasting and profound impact on the victims' lives."

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