Three members of grooming gang jailed for raping teenage girls in the 1990s

(L-R) Ibrar Hussain, 47, Imtiaz Ahmed, 62, and Fayaz Ahmed, 45, have been jailed for abusing teenage girls in Yorkshire in the 1990s (Picture: West Yorkshire Police)

Three members of a grooming gang who targeted teenage girls in the 1990s have been jailed.

Ibrar Hussain, 47, Imtiaz Ahmed, 62, and Fayaz Ahmed, 45, are the latest of eight defendants to have been jailed in relation to the abuse of the two girls, it can now be reported.

The girls, who were dismissed at the time as ‘authoresses of their own misfortune’ at the time, were raped  in Keighley, West Yorkshire, in the 1990s. One of the victims was just 13 at the time.

In a statement read to the court, one of the girls, who is now in her 40s, said: ‘I feel that if I had been listened to sooner, rather than later, my life could have been different.’

She said she ‘became an object – used and abused from the age of 13’.

‘Nothing in the world can ever fix the damage they caused me. Because of them I have lost my identity,’ she added.

Almost thirty years after the abuse, the girl said she still suffers flashbacks ‘in my waking life and in my nightmares’.

Ibrar Hussain of Keighley wasjailed for 6 and a half years after being found guilty of two counts of rape (Picture: West Yorkshire Police)

She said the trauma left her unable to trust people, ‘including the services there to protect me, but didn’t’.

The woman said: ‘Still, to this day, I carry shame.’

Judge Ahmed Nadim said the girl’s mother went to Keighley police station on a number of occasions to report her missing, but officers ‘did not do anything about it’.

He told the court: ‘To differing degrees, the social services and police response to the situation (the girls) found themselves in was that they were the authoresses of their own misfortune’.

The Judge described how the girls were plied with drugs and alcohol as they were passed between numerous men in the town in the 1990s, when they were in their early teens.

Ibrar Hussain was jailed for six and a half years, while the Ahmed brothers received jail sentences of nine and seven-and-a-half years respectively.

However, only Hussain stood in the dock at Bradford Crown Court on Friday as the Ahmed brothers both absconded during their trial and are believed to be abroad, the court heard.

Fayaz Ahmed and his brother are believed to have fled the country (Picture: West Yorkshire Police)

Michael Quinn, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: ‘These men deliberately targeted a highly vulnerable young girl.

‘Ibrar Hussain and another man supplied her with Class A drugs and alcohol, and she became heavily dependent. Hussain exploited the victim for his own sexual gratification.

‘Fayaz Ahmed and Imtiaz Ahmed sexually exploited the victim when she was made even more vulnerable through use of drugs and alcohol.

‘Their actions were wicked, vile and sordid, and the trust the victim placed in these men was violated in the most horrific of ways.

‘The victim’s courage throughout has been truly remarkable, and we are indebted to her for coming forward. Her evidence has led to the successful prosecution of these men.

‘These convictions send a very clear message that the CPS, working alongside law enforcement colleagues, will relentlessly pursue justice for victims and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, whenever that abuse took place.’

Detective Chief Inspector Vicky Greenbank, of Bradford District Police, said: ‘I would like to take this opportunity to praise both victims for coming forward and reporting these offences to the police.

Imtiaz Ahmed was sentenced to 9 years after being found guilty of rape in his absence (Picture: West Yorkshire Police)

‘They have both shown immense patience whilst the criminal investigation has been ongoing and courage throughout the court process.

‘The abuse both girls endured robbed them of their childhood and I hope seeing these men sentenced for these horrendous offences, will give them justice and some closure.’

She said: ‘I hope this sends a clear message that regardless of how long ago these offences may have happened we will pursue every avenue to get justice.’

West Yorkshire Police said a warrant has been issued for the arrest of the Ahmed brothers and ‘enquiries are ongoing to locate them’.

It can now be reported that five other men were jailed following a previous trial, which finished in October 2023.

The longest sentence was given to Mohammed Din, 47, of Keighley, who was jailed for 14 years for 11 counts of rape. He is the only one of the eight defendants who was convicted of raping both the girls, West Yorkshire Police confirmed on Friday.

All the other convictions related to one of the girls, they said.

As well as Din, those sentenced in October 2023 were: Amreaz Asghar, 47, of Keighley, who was jailed for four-and-a-half years for rape; Perwaz Asghar, 50, of Nottingham, who was jailed for six-and-a-half years for two indecent assaults; Sajid Mahmood Khan, 45, of Keighley, was jailed for three years for rape; and Zehroon Razak, 47, of Keighley, who was jailed for six-and-a-half-years for rape.

A 47-year-old man was found not fit to stand trial. A trial of facts took place and concluded that he did commit the act involved in the rape charge. He will be sentenced at a later date.

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