Seven men facing jail over Oxford child sex ring

Kamar Jamil, one of the men convicted. Picture: PA

The girls were plucked from the streets and care homes to be drugged, raped and sold into prostitution in Oxford.

The men were found guilty yesterday at the Old Bailey in London of a catalogue of offences, including conspiracy to rape, child prostitution and trafficking over an eight-year period.

They were remanded in custody for sentencing on 26 June. Judge Peter Rook warned them: “You have been convicted of the most serious offences. Long custodial sentences are inevitable. “

Two sets of brothers, Akhtar Dogar, 32, and Anjum Dogar, 31, and Mohammed Karrar, 38, and Bassam Karrar, 33, were convicted along with Kamar Jamil, 27, Assad Hussain, 32, and Zeeshan Ahmed, 27.

The admissions of failure from the authorities came as it became apparent that police missed several chances to catch gang members before they were finally arrested.

Some victims relived their ordeals during the four-month trial, describing how they were groomed, then beaten, betrayed and sold into prostitution around the country.

The girls had been put into care because their behaviour was deemed to be out of control, and for their own protection.

Time after time, they disappeared from children’s homes and were caught with older men by police, but the exploitation continued.

A care home manager refused to pay the taxi fare of one victim, known as Girl A, when she returned after absconding. The then 14-year-old was driven back to Oxford to be raped.

Girl A, complained of her plight to police on two occasions but no-one was charged.

The carer was later sacked and the privately-run home where girls were placed by Oxford County Council was closed.

Joanna Simons, the council’s chief executive, apologised to the girls.

She said: “We are so sorry we weren’t able to stop it before.”

Detective Chief Superintendent Rob Mason said: “Thames Valley Police and Oxfordshire County Council social services deeply regret that this activity wasn’t identified sooner.”

The six girls said they had been victims of men mostly of Asian origin in the Cowley area of East Oxford while aged between 11 and 15.

The gang was finally arrested after police and social services got together to form Operation Bullfinch. By speaking to complainants and looking at their histories, they realised they were dealing with an organised grooming gang.

Girls were told that they or their families would be harmed, or brainwashed into thinking they were betraying their lover if they talked to police.

Senior police investigation officer Simon Morton said of the girls: “This has been really difficult for them. They have had to relive it in open court.

“They have done it to prevent other girls going through it.”

Background

GIRLS as young as 11 were forced into prostitution and trafficked around the country by the paedophile ring between 2004 and

last year.

The gang used and abused their victims over long periods, subjecting them to “extreme depravity”.

The girls were chosen because they had troubled upbringings, meaning people would be less likely to be looking out for them.

Having secured their confidence, the men gave them alcohol and drugs to make them more reliant on the gang.

Men would travel to pay to have sex with the girls in appointments arranged by the gang.