Eight jailed for 91 years in Bradford child abuse horror

Eight predators face justice for heinous child sex crimes in Bradford, as brave victim’s testimony exposes a dark chapter of exploitation.

Eight men convicted of rape and indecent assault against a teenage girl in Bradford between 2002 and 2004 have been sentenced to a combined 91 years in prison at Bradford Crown Court. The victim, anonymised as Anna, was aged 13 to 15 during the abuse, which involved repeated sexual offences over two years. West Yorkshire Police launched an investigation in 2019 after Anna reported the crimes, resulting in four trials over the past eight months. Reporting restrictions, in place to protect proceedings, were lifted yesterday.

His Honour Judge Ahmed Nadim, sentencing seven of the defendants, described the offences as inflicting “profound and sexual harm” on a “neglected, unstable” girl “desperate for care and affection.” He noted the defendants deliberately targeted her vulnerability, exploiting a child described as “scruffy, immature, and young for her years” with “total disregard for her wellbeing.” The judge characterised the abuse as “violated on an industrial scale,” with each defendant actively contributing to “decades of pain and suffering” by damaging her self-worth, effects that persist today. Anna’s courtroom question—“What was it about a neglected, hurting child that appealed to you?”—underscored the depravity of the offences, which Nadim said weaponised her needs for “perverted gratification.”

Raja Zulqurnean, 42, of Bempton Place, Bradford, was convicted in May of ten rapes and nine indecent assaults, receiving 18 years, later increased to 23 years by the Court of Appeal for undue leniency, with a lifetime restraining order, Sexual Harm Prevention Order, and lifelong sex offender registration. The remaining seven, sentenced by Nadim, received 68 years collectively, each required to register as sex offenders for life: Mohammed Shezhad Hussain, 39, of Aireworth Road, Keighley, 12 years for two rapes and three indecent assaults; Basharat Khaliq, 45, formerly of Bradford, now at HMP Full Sutton near York, 21 years for three rapes and four indecent assaults; Mohammed Imran Akram, 42, of West Royd, Wilsden, Bingley, eight-and-a-half years for two indecent assaults; Wajid Hussain, 42, of Sunderland Road, Bradford, six-and-a-half years for one indecent assault; Mohammed Naheem, 39, of Welbury Drive, Bradford, six-and-a-half years for three indecent assaults; Nadeem Ali, 39, of St Margaret’s Road, Shipley, six-and-a-half years for two indecent assaults; Safraz Ahmed Latif, 40, formerly of Bradford, now at HMP Leeds, seven years for four indecent assaults.

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