A schoolgirl victim of grooming gangs in Rochdale has told a court her abusers had “destroyed my life”.
Her statement was read out ahead of the sentencing of seven men convicted in June of various child sex offences relating to her and another unnamed teenage girl in the town between 2001 and 2006.
Both were treated as “sex slaves” from the age of 13 said prosecutors, “amid deeply troubled home lives” as they were given drugs, alcohol, cigarettes and places to stay.
Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court previously heard they were expected to have sex “whenever and wherever” the defendants wanted in locations like filthy flats, alleyways and disused warehouses.
The teenagers were referred to as Girl A and Girl B throughout the trial.
Girl A earlier told the jury that she could have been targeted by more than 200 offenders as her phone number was swapped, but said “there was that many it was hard to keep count”.
‘Emotional rollercoaster’
In her statement, read out by prosecutor Rossano Scamardella KC, she said: “My life has been destroyed from the abuse of these men.
“The abuse has affected every part of my life, from what I look like, relationships, health, to my mental health.”
She described the 10 years since she reported the abuse to the police as an “emotional rollercoaster”, and said it is still consuming her life.
“I hope that one day I will be able to move forward with my life,” she said.
“The jury finding these men guilty I hope is going to help me take another step forward to get my life back, as I have already lost my childhood. And now because of the case I’m losing part of my adult life, continually revisiting the abuse of my childhood.”
Girl B read her victim impact statement from the witness box as she urged other victims to come forward to the police.
She said: “I coped with what these men did to me as at the time I believed that every man I came into contact with would expect sex. It is horrific that I didn’t know any different.
“My way of coping was to block out most of what had been done to me. I have felt shame and guilt all my life for what these men did.
“My life has been on hold for the last 20 years, I have never been able to move on from the abuse.”
Girl B said that before the CSE (child sexual exploitation) team approached her she “had no faith in the police”, but but that the team that worked on her case had been “amazing”.
She also urged other victims to come forward, saying “it doesn’t matter how much time has gone by, it is still possible to get justice”.
“The day I watched the verdicts changed my life, I instantly had a massive weight lifted off me and I now feel like I can live my life. I do not need to feel ashamed, and I have already started that process.”
Judge Jonathan Seely praised both women for their “extraordinary courage” in making their statements, coming forward with their complaints and then going through the trial process.
The defendants are expected to be sentenced on Wednesday afternoon.
Mohammed Zahid, 65, of Station Road, Crumpsall, was convicted of raping Girl A and Girl B, who did not know each other, on multiple occasions.
Jurors also found him guilty of offences of indecency with a child and procuring a child to have sex.
Mushtaq Ahmed, 67, of Corona Avenue, Oldham, and Kasir Bashir, 50, of Napier Street East, Oldham, were convicted of multiple counts of rape and indecency with a child, in relation to Girl B.
Mohammed Shahzad, 44, of Beswicke Royds Street, Rochdale; Naheem Akram, 49, of Manley Road, Rochdale; and Nisar Hussain, 41, of New Field Close, Rochdale were convicted of multiple counts of rape against Girl A.
Roheez Khan, 39, of Athole Street, Rochdale, was found guilty of a single count of rape against Girl A.
Bashir will be sentenced in his absence after he fled the UK while on bail before the trial started.
