Oxford exploitation trial: Guilty verdicts over child rapes----BBC news

Seven members of a sex grooming ring have been convicted of abusing children from Oxford.

An Old Bailey jury heard six girls were drugged and suffered sadistic abuse while aged between 11 and 15.

The court heard victims were plied with alcohol and drugs before being forced to perform sex acts. Some had also been beaten, burned and threatened.

Eight men had denied charges including rape, arranging child prostitution and trafficking between 2004 to 2012.

The judge told the guilty men: "You have been convicted of the most serious offences and long custodial sentences are inevitable."

They are due to be sentenced on 26 June.

Brothers convicted

The abuse began in Oxford but some of the victims would be later taken around the country to be offered to other men who were in contact with the gang.

The court heard how the men identified vulnerable girls for abuse then groomed each one of them until they were under the control of the gang.

Kamar Jamil, 27, and brothers Akhtar Dogar, 32, and Anjum Dogar, 31, and were convicted of rape, facilitating child prostitution and trafficking.

Assad Hussain, 32, was convicted of two counts of sexual activity with a child.

Mohammed Karrar, 38, was found guilty of rape of a child under 13 and procuring abortion, conspiracy to rape, child prostitution and trafficking.

Mohammed Karrar's brother Bassam, 33, was found guilty of rape and conspiracy to rape girls under 13, child prostitution and trafficking.

Zeeshan Ahmed, 27, was found guilty of sexual activity with a child.

Mohammed Hussain, 24, was found not guilty of sexual activity with a child.

Following the verdicts there was a scuffle in the dock as Ahmed struck out at Mohammed Hussain when he was cleared of the charges against him.

Sold for sex
The Old Bailey was told the key members of the group used and abused the six victims in a systematic and organised sex trafficking ring over eight years until their arrest in 2012.

The abuse would always begin in Oxford but some of the victims would be taken around the country to be offered to other men who were in contact with the gang.

The court heard how the men identified vulnerable girls for abuse and then groomed each one of them until they were under the control of the gang.

They were then each either abused by the men themselves, given to their friends or offered at a price to others who were not on trial.

The youngest girl to be targeted was 11 years old. The girls were mostly chosen because their unsettled or troubled lives made them easier to manipulate.