By Andrew Bardsley
Copyright manchestereveningnews
Tributes were paid to the ‘extraordinary courage’ of two women who were raped and abused as children in Rochdale, as they laid bare the horrendous consequences of their ordeals. Girl A and Girl B, as they are known, gave emotional statements at a sentencing hearing where seven men are due to face justice for their crimes against the girls. Girl A said the abuse had ‘destroyed’ her life, while Girl B said she had felt ‘shame and guilt all my life’ for what her abusers did to her. But Girl A described the guilty verdicts was ‘another step forward to get my life back’, while Girl B said that ‘a massive weight lifted off me’ when she learned of the convictions. Girl B read out her statement in court from the witness box, and looked on at the defendants as she movingly spoke. Judge Jonathan Seely paid tribute to the ‘extraordinary courage’ of both women. Mohammed Zahid, 65, Kasir Bashir, 50; Mushtaq Ahmed, 66; Roheez Khan, 39; Mohammed Shahzad, 43; Nisar Hussain, 43; and Naheem Akram, 48, are all being sentenced at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester. They had all denied the charges they faced. Sign up to the MEN Court newsletter here The girls, who were teenagers at the time in the mid 2000s, were groomed and sexually abused for years. They were treated as ‘sex slaves’ and were expected to have sex ‘whenever and wherever’ in filthy flats, on rancid mattresses, in cars, car parks, alleyways and disused warehouses. Their abusers were mainly either taxi drivers or market stall traders in the town. The girls were ‘passed around’ for sex by the predators before being discarded. Zahid was the only offender to abuse both girls. Bashir fled the country while on bail ahead of the trial, and is due to be sentenced in his absence. In her statement, Girl B told the court: “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. “I still suffer with social anxiety. I am unable to trust anyone and cannot take people at face value. I have no expectations of anyone. I was incapable of getting therapy, as I feared being judged and blamed as I have suffered with my mental health, in that I can’t manage emotions. I have never had a healthy relationship with a man. “My life has been on hold for the last 20 years. I have never been able to move on from the abuse. This has not just impacted my life and what I could have achieved, but also my children’s lives. They have become victims of these men too. “I never expected these men to accept responsibility for what they know they did to me, so I knew they would put me through a trial. I have had to endure being blamed by them in their attempt to get off with what they did. “They accused me in court of a number of outrageous motives for speaking out and telling the truth. I am disappointed that Bashir has taken the coward’s way out and run away from facing what he has done. It’s like his last bit of control over me. But this is the only disappointment I have. “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. Before the CSE [child sexual exploitation] team came to me I had no faith in the police, but meeting someone who believed and understood everything meant I could trust for the first time. “It is important that people know that the team who have worked on my case have been amazing. People in the press and social media have told victims of CSE not to go to the police. “This is wrong. I want these victims to know that if they feel ready to deal with what has happened to them they shouldn’t wait, they should go to the CSE team because they will do a good job. It doesn’t matter how much time has gone by, it is still possible to get justice. “I want to thank the CPS court team and most importantly the jury. 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.” Girl A did ‘not feel able to read her statement’ in court, so prosecutors read it out on her behalf. She said: “I am a victim of grooming. My life has been destroyed from the abuse of these men. My childhood was taken away from me by these men. I should have been out with friends, playing in parks and being innocent, hanging around on the streets, enjoying my childhood and creating memories I would be able to cherish and look back on as an adult. “However, my life was far from that due to these men. Instead, it was based on being taken to addresses by men, being plied with alcohol and drugs, raped and then being made to feel worthless by a hurl of humiliating and degrading comments directed at me. “I meant nothing to these men, they used me for their advantage only. They didn’t care how their abuse would have an impact on my childhood and adult life. As long as they got what they wanted, that was all that mattered. “The abuse has affected every part of my life, from what I look like, relationships, health, to my mental health. There is not a part of it it has not affected and destroyed in some way. “Over the last ten years, when I finally plucked up the courage to approach the police and disclose the abuse I suffered, it has been an absolute emotional rollercoaster for me. I have provided about 40 video interviews having to speak about what I was subjected to, talking about it out loud and explaining it in detail. “This was mentally draining on me, I had so many emotions going on. This has led to some dark times for me when I felt absolutely alone and I could not face the outside world, laying in bed for days and not wanting to function anymore. “But I knew I had to be brave and continue to tell my story of abuse for myself to get justice and for the next generation. I have female family members, and I want to protect them from the damage that has been caused to me. These men might have been found guilty and convicted, but it is me that has to live with it for the rest of my life and affect all aspects of it. “It hasn’t just impacted me, it has impacted my family, my children and friends. They have supported me through this tough journey. These men do not realise how many lives they have affected from abusing me, I only wish they could understand and that they will never do it again. “This case has been a big personal commitment for me, it has taken a long time. I fully understand the reason why it has taken so long, and it upsets me to read negative comments on social media in regard to the police taking their time. The public do not understand the lengths the police have had to go to with the information I have provided to them. “Having to attend ID parades of these men, seeing photographs of these men again haunted me for days after. Fearing that I may bump into them, and that they may subject me to further abuse as I had spoken out about the abuse they had put me through as a child. “I have never felt settled where I live, and this has caused me to move a number of times. I struggle to get a taxi, order a takeaway for the fear someone will recognise me from the community. “Then attending court to relive my abuse again from behind a screen knowing that the men that abused me could hear me, having no guilt or remorse. Being cross-examined for days by many barristers, having my character questioned. Join our Court and Crime WhatsApp group HERE “Since all this abuse in my childhood, I have felt that I had no worth, I have struggled with relationships, as I felt constantly worried that I could not trust anyone with information of my past and the support needed. It has taken me many years to find a person I am finally able to trust and support me with my past and baggage. I feel like he has pulled me out of a dark hole, and I am so thankful to him. “My health and mental health have been affected by the abuse. I am currently on medication for PTSD and severe anxiety. I will be on this medication for the rest of my life, all because of the abuse I suffered as a child. My mental health has suffered. I have been depressed and on days struggled to get out of bed, leaving my partner to look after our children. “This has been and still is consuming my life. 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.” The sentencing hearing, which is expected to conclude on Wednesday, is due to continue tomorrow with speeches from defence barristers.
