Child sexual exploitation gang to be sentenced

Mohammed Imran Akhtar, Nabeel Kurshid, Asif Ali, Iqlak Yousaf, Salah El-Hakam and Tanweer Ali were convicted of 22 child sexual exploitation offences against five girls following an eight-week trial at the court which ended last month.

The men were convicted as part of the National Crime Agency’s investigation into non-familial child sexual exploitation in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013, known as Operation Stovewood.

It was the biggest sub-operation of Stovewood to date and brought the total number of people convicted to 14.

The men showed no remorse for their offences, which included rape, indecent assault and procuring a girl to have sex with another between 1998 and 2005.

The guilty men were in their late teens and early 20s when they were exploiting the schoolgirls — plying them with alcohol and drugs.

The girls, who were aged between 13 and 15 when they first met the men, were said to have unsettled home lives.

Mohammed Imran Akhtar (37), of Godstone Road, Rotherham, was found guilty of three counts of indecent assault, one count of rape, procuring a girl to have unlawful sex with another, aiding and abetting Tanweer Ali to commit rape, and sexual assault.

Nabeel Kurshid (35), of Weetwood Road, Rotherham, was found guilty of two counts of rape and one of indecent assault.

Asif Ali (33), of Clough Road, Rotherham, was found guilty of two counts of indecent assault.

Iqlak Yousaf (34), of Tooker Road, Rotherham, was found guilty of two counts of rape and two counts of indecent assault.

Salah El-Hakam (39), of Tudor Close, Sheffield, was found guilty of one count of rape.

Tanweer Ali  (37), of Godstone Road, Rotherham, was found guilty of two counts of indecent assault, two counts of rape, and one count of false imprisonment.

A seventh man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was convicted of two offences and will be sentenced at a later date.