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Nine men found guilty in UK exploitation ring

Kabeer Hassan, one of the nine men found guilty, arrives at Liverpool Crown Court in February
Kabeer Hassan, one of the nine men found guilty, arrives at Liverpool Crown Court in February

Nine men have been found guilty of being part of a child sexual exploitation ring involving vulnerable girls in the UK.

Five girls were "shared" by Kabeer Hassan, Abdul Aziz, Abdul Rauf, Mohammed Sajid, Adil Khan, Abdul Qayyum, Mohammed Amin, Hamid Safi and a 59-year-old man who cannot be named for legal reasons.

The 10-week trial was told that the men - who are all from Pakistan, apart from Safi who is from Afghanistan - groomed the teenage girls because they were vulnerable.

The jury of three men and nine women heard that the defendants plied the girls, some as young as 13, with fast food, drink and drugs so they could "pass them around" and use them for sex.

One 13-year-old victim became pregnant and had the child aborted.

Another gave evidence of being raped by two men while she was "so drunk she was vomiting over the side of the bed".

The court heard that some of the girls were raped and physically assaulted and some were forced to have sex with "several men in a day, several times a week".

The 59-year-old man was found guilty of conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children under the age of 16, two counts of rape, aiding and abetting a rape, one count of sexual assault and an allegation of trafficking within the UK for sexual exploitation.

It took the jury 21 hours and 22 minutes to reach all their verdicts.

Judge Gerald Clifton adjourned sentencing until tomorrow.

The offences happened in and around Rochdale in 2008 and 2009.

Police said one victim was forced to have sex with 20 men in one night when she was drunk.

Police said she could "barely recount the events" but her friend was downstairs and remembers "innumerable men" going upstairs.

The father of one victim told the court he joined the BNP after he heard what had happened to his daughter.

At the start of the trial Rachel Smith, for the prosecution, told the jury: "No child should be exploited as these girls say they were."

Miss Smith said the girls - aged between 13 and 15 - were given alcohol, food and money in return for sex but that there were times when violence was used.

"There were also occasions on which one or more of the girls were so incapacitated by alcohol and/or drugs that they were incapable of having any control over whether or with whom they had sexual intercourse," she said.

Only one of the girls was in care at the time of the abuse but all were said to have been known to social services at some point in their childhood.

Police said the victims were from "chaotic", "council estate" backgrounds.

The girls were targeted in "honeypot locations" where young people were seen to congregate, such as outside takeaways.

Nick Griffin tweet almost caused trial collapse

A tweet from BNP leader Nick Griffin almost caused the trial to collapse when it led to allegations of the jury having a "far-right bias".

Last Thursday afternoon - two-and-a-half days after the jury retired to consider its verdicts - Griffin posted a comment on his @nickgriffinmep account which read: "News flash. Seven of the Muslim paedophile rapists found guilty in Liverpool."

Mr Griffin later backtracked on Twitter when he was told that the jury had not yet officially returned any verdicts.

But the tweet led to eight defence counsel calling on Judge Gerald Clifton to discharge the jury before it delivered verdicts after investigations revealed Mr Griffin's comment to be a "100% accurate" reflection of its deliberations so far.

The defence counsel who supported the discharge of the jury said there must have been "two-way communication" between someone in the jury room and a far-right organisation.

Simon Nichol, defending the 59-year-old who cannot be named, said: "From the outset of this trial there have been attempts by right-wing organisations to influence the outcome."

He said "right-wing commentators" had published on the internet reports that the jury had reached guilty verdicts in respect of seven of the 11 defendants.

"Your honour's inquiries of the jury confirmed the accuracy of those reports on the internet."