Operation Stovewood: Seven jailed for child abuse in Rotherham

Seven men convicted under the UK’s biggest investigation into child abuse have been jailed for assaulting two vulnerable girls in Rotherham.

Mohammed Amar, 43, Mohammed Siyab, 44, Yasser Ajaibe, 39, Mohammed Zameer Sadiq, 50, Abid Saddiq, 43, Tahir Yasin, 38, and Ramin Bari, 38, were jailed at Sheffield Crown Court on Thursday and Friday.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) said the victims were aged 11 and 15 when the offending began and both had spent time in the care system during the offending period.

The case was part of Operation Stovewood, set up after the Jay Report found at least 1,400 girls were abused, trafficked and groomed by gangs of men in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013.

Monday 26 August marked 10 years since the report’s publication.

CPS solicitor Zoe Becker said the men had “deliberately preyed on two young girls they knew were vulnerable and, using drugs and alcohol, exploited them for their own sexual gratification”.

The offences were committed between April 2003 and April 2008.

The trial heard the defendants had regularly picked up the victims – often from the children’s homes where they lived – in their cars and gave them cigarettes, alcohol, cannabis and money.

The girls would then be assaulted, forced to perform sexual acts or raped.

“The cruelty and abuse the victims suffered at the hands of these defendants was horrific and has continued to have a lasting impact on their lives today,” said Ms Becker.

Stuart Cobb, senior investigating officer at the NCA, said: “These men were cruel and manipulative, grooming their victims and then exploiting them by subjecting them to the most harrowing abuse possible.

“They were responsible for some of the worst offending we have investigated under Operation Stovewood.”

All seven men lived in or around Rotherham at the time of the abuse.

Amar, Ajaibe, Sadiq and Sayib abused one victim, while Yassin and Bari targeted the other.

Saddiq, who was already serving a 20-year prison sentence for sexual offences prior to this hearing, abused both girls.

The court heard how the attacks took place at locations around Rotherham, including a park, in a car in a supermarket car park, in a cemetery and behind a children’s nursery.

Mr Cobb added: “What happened to them can never be undone, but I hope the sentences handed down here will at least give them a sense that their abusers have been held to account and justice has been done.

“We and our partners will continue to do all we can to support them going forward.”

• Amar, of Elizabeth Way, Rotherham, was found guilty of two counts of indecent assault on a girl aged 11 and sentenced to 14 years in prison, plus two years on licence. He was found not guilty of one count of indecent assault.

• Ajaibe, of Walter Street, Rotherham, was found guilty of indecent assault of a girl aged 11 and jailed for six years, with one year to be served on licence.

• Sadiq, of Richard Road, Rotherham, was found guilty of unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 13 and rape. He was jailed for 15 years and given one year on licence.

• Siyab, of Stevenson Drive, Rotherham, was found guilty of unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl aged under 13 and two counts of rape. He was also found guilty of trafficking within the UK for sexual exploitation. He was jailed for a total of 24 years with one year to be served on extended licence.

• Saddiq, formerly of Rotherham, was found guilty of indecent assault of a girl aged 12, rape of a girl under the age of 13 and two further counts of rape. He was jailed for a total of 24 years with one year to be served on extended licence.

• Yasin, of Burngreave Street, Sheffield, was found guilty of eight counts of rape and jailed for 13 years.

• Bari, of Batemoor Road, Sheffield, was found guilty of four counts of rape and jailed for nine years.

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