By Andrew Bardsley

Copyright manchestereveningnews

It was the moment they had been waiting for. As teenage girls, they had been ruthlessly manipulated before being raped by older men, utterly powerless to stop what was happening to them. Now, as adult women, the tables had been turned. They had been listened to – and believed. After being ‘badly let down’ by the authorities, their courage and determination to see justice done had brought them to this point. The same men who had cruelly and systematically taken advantage of them, now all about 20 years older, were finally paying the price. Girl A and Girl B, as they are known to protect their identities, were watching on as seven men all received lengthy jail sentences. Girl B sat, supported by a police officer, facing her abusers directly as they were held in the dock. She shook at times, as she looked them straight the eye. Girl A chose to watch by video link. Sign up to the MEN Court newsletter here The defendants showed no emotion as huge sentences continued to be handed down by the judge . Mohammed Zahid, who the girls knew as ‘Boss man’ and was the only predator to abuse them both, received the highest sentence. He was jailed for 35 years. The other six were handed sentences ranging from 12 to 29 years. It was another milestone in a long running process for the two women, who are trying to rebuild their lives after suffering for years at the hands of these groomers and abusers. “This has been and still is consuming my life,” Girl A said in a victim impact statement read in court on her behalf. “I hope that one day I will be able to move forward with my life. 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 to these men. And now because of the case I’m losing part of my adult life, continually revisiting the abuse of my childhood.” Girl B said: “This whole process has been the most positive thing I have ever done. Standing in the court room and being able to have my own voice was the hardest thing I have ever been through but the best experience. I was able to tell my truth and now know that my voice matters, because I was believed. I’ve also proved to myself that if I can do that, I can do anything, and I am grateful for this.” Today’s sentencing hearing at Minshull Street Crown Court was also a landmark day in the long running and controversial investigation into the grooming and sexual abuse of young girls in Rochdale. The convictions came following an investigation named Operation Lytton. The probe was launched by Greater Manchester Police after official complaints were made by Girl A and Girl B. The huge operation works out of a newly formed unit within the force, the Child Sexual Exploitation Major Investigation Team, established in 2021. They had originally come forward in 2015, when Operation Doublet, another Greater Manchester Police operation targeting historic sexual abuse and grooming in Rochdale, was proceeding through the courts. In total, 19 men were jailed for their part in abuse. Doublet sought to rectify the ‘limited’ scope of a previous probe, Operation Span, which was criticised by a report author for targeting only a ‘small number of perpetrators’. A serious case review published in 2013 found that widespread sexual abuse of vulnerable young girls in Rochdale could have been avoided if the authorities had acted sooner. It found police, social workers, health workers and the CPS failed to grasp the scale of child sexual exploitation in the town and that they ‘struggled to empathise’ with the girls, partly because they were from ‘poor backgrounds’. A total of 19 officers are dedicated to Operation Lytton. The massive probe has seen more than 3,000 statements taken, and the case file comprises almost 16,000 documents. Bosses say they have spoken with over 50 potential victims. Many do not want to revisit traumatic periods of their lives. Three have given evidence in court as part of the operation. Convictions against five men were secured following the first Operation Lytton trial in 2023. Jahn Shahid Ghani, Mohammed Ghani, Insar Hussain, Ali Razza Hussain Kasmi and Martin Rhodes received combined jail sentences of more than 70 years. Combined jail sentences of more than 170 years were handed down earlier today following the second Operation Lytton trial. Senior detectives acknowledged that victims hadn’t been effectively supported in the past, but insisted that the situation is different now. Detective Superintendent Alan Clitherow, the head of GMP’s Child Sexual Exploitation Major Investigation Team, said after the convictions in June: “I would like that to really reassure potential victims that they will be believed, and they can trust GMP to deliver a service. “We’ve acknowledged in the past that we haven’t served victims the way we should have done, but now we’ve invested, we’re learning, we’re getting better, and we’ve specialist officers now to deal with victims, which is really important.” Chris Trotter, Senior District Crown Prosecutor from the Crown Prosecution Service’s Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit, said he hopes that such results in court will help improve the public’s confidence in the judicial process. He added: “Times have changed, approaches in all sorts of facets of life, but you know, particularly with what we’re talking about here have changed. There was a lot of blaming of victims for their behaviour, previously, whereas we now understand actually what this abuse means and actually the misconceptions are preconceptions of survivors and victims. Join our Court and Crime WhatsApp group HERE “These two victims have come forward as a result of seeing other things going on in other operations. That’s one of our aims, hopefully we can build on that public confidence.” Sharon Hubber, director of children’s services at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “What these men did to those innocent young girls was vile and they rightfully deserve to be behind bars for a long time. Today’s sentencing is a reminder of our ongoing commitment, alongside Greater Manchester Police, in bringing these perpetrators to justice and we will not stop here in our efforts. “We also continue to provide a safe and supportive environment to anyone affected by non-recent abuse or exploitation to ensure people get the right support that they need. Rochdale Borough Council is in a very different place to where it once was more than a decade ago, and our work to improve our safeguarding practice and our response to child sexual exploitation has been recognised in every Ofsted inspection since 2014. “We will not be complacent however, and we remain committed to doing all that we can with our partners to protect and support victims and survivors.” Full list of the seven defendants’ sentences