Paedophile grooming gang members jailed
The judge says “the depravity was extreme” as he hands out lengthy jail sentences to seven members of a sadistic paedophile ring which groomed underage girls for sexual exploitation.
Brothers Akhtar Dogar, 32, and Anjum Dogar, 31, were jailed for a minimum of 17 years for their roles in the Oxford grooming gang. Judge Peter Rook told them they had been found guilty of “exceptionally grave crimes”.
The seven defendants, including a second set of brothers, were found guilty of a number of offences against vulnerable underage girls, including rape, trafficking and organising prostitution, last month. They were arrested last year in Oxford as part of Thames Valley police’s Operation Bullfinch operation.
Now all seven are set to spend years in jail for their crimes after a five-month trial in which the court heard that the gang sexually exploited women as young as 11. The judge said the gang had targeted vulnerable girls, and said on occasions “the depravity was extreme”.
Mohammed Karrar, 38, was also given life with a minimum of 20 years for the “dreadful offences” he committed against the girls, including forcing them to carry out “depraved” sexual acts.
‘Grotesque acts’
His brother, Bassam Karrar, 34, was also handed a life sentence. Jailing him for a minimum of 15 years, the judge referred to the “grotesque sex acts” he had carried out with his older brother.
Kamar Jamil, 27, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 12 years. Assad Hussain, 32, received a total of seven years in prison with the judge telling him that although he did have a “predatory sexual interest” in young girls, his offences were not in the same league as some of his co-defendants.
Zeeshan Ahmed, 28, was jailed for seven years for two counts of sexual activity with a child. The judge said Ahmed had known the girl was aged just 14.
Judge Peter Rook told the gang: “You targeted the young girls because they were vulnerable, underage and out of control.”
He also praised the victims, saying each of the six victims had shown “enormous courage” in giving evidence during the trial. He said they had come “knowing that they would be accused of lying, knowing they would have to relive their ordeals, knowing that they have not been believed in the past”.
