August 2023

Gang of men who committed ‘sickening’ sexual abuse in Rochdale after plying girls with vodka and drugs found guilty

A gang of men who plied young girls with alcohol and drugs before sexually abusing them have been found guilty of a series of crimes.

Eight men had gone on trial accused of a catalogue of offences alleged to have occurred in Rochdale.

One victim, identified only as girl A, was filmed being sexually assaulted while passed out after drinking vodka as members of the gang laughed before sharing the video, a Manchester court heard.

Girl A was aged just 12 when the abuse started. Her and another child aged 13, identified as girl B, were abused for four years between 2002 and 2006.

The victims would often be picked up from outside their schools still in uniforms, and sexually assaulted against a school wall, in cars, in public parks, on Saddleworth Moor and in flats and houses

Two girls were abused in the town over several years in the mid 2000s. The pair were passed around by the gang and treated as ‘mere objects’ for them to ‘use, abuse, humiliate then discard’, Minshull Street Crown Court heard.

The crimes only came to light in 2015 after one victim, now aged in her 30s, told how she’d been ‘abused daily’. She claimed they would be ‘feeding me alcohol and drugs… and pass me on to their friends.”

Following a three month trial, five men face jail sentences for their role in the abuse. Mohammed Ghani, Insar Hussain, Jahn Shahid Ghani, Martin Rhodes and Ali Raza Hussain Kasmi will be sentenced later this year.

Three men were cleared of all wrongdoing. Ikhlaq Yousef, Aftar Khan and Mohammed Iqbal were discharged from the dock.

The girls were abused as teenagers. Prosecutors said the men exploited the ‘young, vulnerable and damaged children’. He said not all of the men knew each other, but that the gang was ‘centred’ around 38-year-old Mohammed Ghani, known as ‘Gunny’.

“The men would provide the girls vodka, drugs and apparent affection in order to persuade them that they were genuinely liked by the men, and not just being used for sex,” prosecutor Neil Usher said. Girl A went on to be sexually abused over a period of years.

She believed she was in a ‘genuine relationship’ with Ghani, who would ‘offer her out’ to his friends for sex. Ghani would tell her that he’d ‘love her even more if she did that for him’.

When she refused to have sex with a man named ‘Doc’ she was called a ‘bitch,’ and a ‘slag’ and thrown out of a car. Jahn Shahid Ghani, Ghani’s brother, was accused of giving drugs to both complainants before sexually abusing them.

Insar Hussain, a friend of Mohammed Ghani, sexually abused her ‘a lot’, Girl A said. Martin Rhodes denied rape but admitted sexually abusing both complainants.

Ali Raza Hussain Kasmi threatened Girl B with a knife during one incident, it was alleged. During the trial, Girl A was forced to deny she was ‘not in it for the money’.

“It’s not about money. It’s about the people who have done me wrong in life,” she said. “These men have just ruined my life. I didn’t realise it at the time. I’ve grown up, I realise how bad it actually was. I just thought they were friends. I’m branded,” as she wept in court.

Jahn Shahid Ghani was the only defendant to give evidence at the trial. He admitted having sex with both girls but denied wrongdoing, claiming he thought Girl A was 18 and Girl B was 19 at the time.

The unanimous verdicts in full:

• Mohammed Ghani, 38, of Bamford Way, Rochdale, was found guilty of five counts of penetrative sexual activity with a child. He was found not guilty of ten counts of rape, one count of having sexual intercourse with a child, two counts of indecency with a child, one count of penetrative sexual activity with a child and two counts of buggery.

• Insar Hussain, 36, of Bishop Street, Rochdale, was found guilty of one count of rape and two counts of having penetrative sexual activity with a child. He was found not guilty of six counts of rape, two counts of having sexual intercourse with a child, three counts of indecency with a child, one count of having penetrative sexual activity with a child and one count of trafficking a person for sexual exploitation

• Jahn Shahid Ghani, 50, of Whitworth Road, Rochdale, was found guilty of six counts of penetrative sexual activity and one count of causing a child to engage in sexual activity. He was found not guilty of eight counts of rape and two counts of penetrative sexual activity with a child.

• Martin Rhodes, 39, of Dinmore Avenue, Blackpool, was found not guilty of two counts of rape. He previously pleaded guilty to two counts of penetrative sexual activity with a child.

• Ali Raza Hussain Kasmi, 36, of Brotherod Hall Road, Rochdale, was found guilty of one count of rape and two counts of indecency with a child. He was found not guilty of one count of rape and two counts of penetrative sexual activity with a child. (pictured above)

• Ikhlaq Yousef, 38, of Stanley Street, Rochdale, was found not guilty of two counts of indecency with a child, two counts of rape, two counts of having penetrative sexual activity with a child, and one count of causing a child to engage in sexual activity.

• Aftar Khan, 34, of Sparth Bottoms Road, Rochdale, was found not guilty of three counts of rape, three counts of indecency with a child and two counts of having penetrative sexual activity with a child.

• Mohammed Iqbal, 67, of Gainsborough Drive, Rochdale, was found not guilty of two counts of paying for sexual services of a girl under the age of 18.