A PAIR of paedophile cousins have been jailed for 30 years for grooming and raping vulnerable teenage girls in a “campaign of rape”.
Manzorr Hussain and Imitaz Ali were branded the “scum of the earth” by one of their victims at Monday’s sentencing.
Hussain, 54, is from Manchester Road in Bury and faces 30 years for seven counts of rape and a further seven counts of indecent assault against five girls.
The grandfather waved to members of his family as he went down.
Ali, from Ainsworth Road in Radcliffe, was jailed for 28 years after being convicted of seven counts of rape, five counts of indecent assault and one count of attempted indecent assault.
The 53-year-old started abusing the girls with his relatives shortly after his arrival from Pakistan in 1996.
His other cousin, Hussain’s older brother, Ghulaim Hussain was arrested during the police investigation but fled the country.
The 64-year-old did not stand trial and is thought to be in Pakistan.
One of the victims of horrific crimes bravely read a victim impact statement shielded by screens.
She told the court how some some men would come to her school and pick her up. She added that the three years of rape and sex abuse she experiences at age 13, lead to “30 years of shame”.
She added: “You are nothing better than paedophiles, rapists and scum of the earth. You are the lowest of the low.”
The victim continued that every agency or individual who had “covered up or turned a blind eye are all complicit”.
Jailing both men, Judge Bernadette Baxter told them: “You have shown not one jot of remorse or insight into your behaviour.
“You groomed, sexually abused and exploited the teen girls. Your offending can properly be described as a campaign of rape.”
The trial heard from all five girls, now adults, about the sexual abuse they experienced by the trio in the 1990s. A sixth girl alleges she was abused but she was unable to relive her ordeal in court.
The duo first preyed on their victims from stalls that they ran at Bury market in Greater Manchester. The abuse mainly took place in Bury as well as other regions and parts of Wales.
The court heard how the girls were often given alcohol alongside other drugs including GHB, LSD and cannabis. Then Ali and Hussain would take turns to rape their victims. The abuse took place in houses, cars, hotels and a car dealership.
On one occasion, the men trapped their victim in the back of a car and forced her to perform oral sex on the men, one after another.
One girl, aged 14/15 was taken by Hussain to a flat in Bury where he had arranged to make her available for sex with a gang of six other men.
Hussain ordered the teen into a bedroom with just a mattress covered by a stained sheet.
She was raped and sexually assaulted by six Asian men who she did not know.
One of the victims said the attackers threatened to abandon her naked on the moors near Bury if she did not comply.
A number of the girls came from difficult home and had troubled backgrounds making them particularly vulnerable. The cousin’s took advantage of this and showered their victims with attention, gifts, a place to stay and even drugs.
In the end, the young girls were groomed to feel as if they “owed” them.
Outside court, Chief Inspector Ian Partington, senior investigating officer in the case for Greater Manchester Police (GMP), said: “Firstly, I would like to thank the victims in this case for reporting their abuse to us. Their powerful testimony allowed us to conduct a thorough investigation which has culminated in justice being served today.
“Manzorr Hussain and Imtiaz Ali are sexual predators who deliberately targeted vulnerable young girls. They thought they had got away with their offending, but the first brave victim who came forward and spoke to our officers opened up the whole case.
“Even after many years, the victims were able to recall specific addresses and locations where the abuse took place. This, along with additional evidence – such as historical records from social services and schools – provided vital details that helped establish timelines and linked the defendants to particular places and dates of the alleged offences.
“As an investigation team we are pleased with the outcome of today’s sentencing and hope that the victims can feel some sense of justice being served.
“Time is no barrier when it comes to being sexually abused – no matter how long ago it was, or how old you were at the time, we will listen to you. We will support you, investigate, and act robustly against perpetrators. We will take your allegations seriously and treat you with dignity and respect.”
Claire Brinton, specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “These sentences reflect the severity of the appalling crimes committed by Manzorr Hussain and Imtiaz Ali, who deliberately targeted, groomed and systematically abused five vulnerable children, treating them as objects for their own sexual gratification.
“The defendants showed no remorse for their actions, which have had a lasting and profound impact on the victims’ lives. These women have carried the trauma of this abuse for more than two decades. I would like to thank them again for coming forward, speaking so bravely about what happened to them, and seeing this case through to its conclusion.
“I hope these sentences provide some sense of justice and closure for the victims and demonstrate that no matter how much time has passed, those who commit such heinous crimes against children will be held accountable.”
