"I was passed around from man to man."
Three British Asian men have received jail sentences for their crimes in child sex abuse. They had been found guilty of indecently assaulting a girl under the age of 14.
Identified as 39-year-old Riaz Makhmood, 38-year-old Sajid Ali and 39-year-old Zaheer Iqbal, they received their sentences on 16th November 2017.
Judge David Dixon convicted them of 15 charges of indecent assault against their victim. Makhmood must serve six years and nine months, while Ali and Iqbal will go to jail for seven and a half years each.
Taking place at Sheffield Crown Court, it marks as the first trial under Operation Stovewood. A National Crime Agency (NCA) inquiry into Rotherham’s historical child sex abuse.
The court heard how the crimes took place in 1994 and 1995, with the woman aged between 12-13 at the time.
Their victim explained how Makhmood, Ali and Iqbal would give her and friends alcohol. Through this, they would encourage her to perform sex acts upon them. In a police interview played to the court, she said:
“I think a lot of it were down to having a drink. I was passed around from man to man.”
The woman, now in her 30s, revealed the crimes would take place car parks or behind shops in Masbrough. While they did not threaten her with violence, they would ‘control’ her through other means. Prosecutor Sophie Drake explained:
“They said they would tell her mother what she was doing and she was scared of this. The Crown say this is one of the ways they put pressure on her, and would control her.”
At the age of 13, her mother stopped her from going to the Masbrough area. Only then did the abuse ended. However, as she grew up, she realised what had happened to her and reported the crimes to South Yorkshire Police.
NCA received the report from police for their inquiry, Operation Stovewood. In June 2016, they arrested Makhmood, Ali and Iqbal.
As the judge sentenced the three, he said: “She was groomed, coerced and intimated, she was called abusive names and she was treated like a thing, a thing that you passed around among yourselves.”
With the verdict delivered, all three men will begin their sentences. The NCA will continue its inquiry into Rotherham’s historical child sex abuse.
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