Rapist ringleader of Rochdale grooming gang dubbed 'boss man' jailed for 35 years
Mohammed Zahid, 64 was nicknamed 'Boss Man' as the leader of the grooming gang
The ringleader of a Rochdale grooming gang that used two teenage girls as "sex slaves" has been jailed for 35 years.
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Mohammed Zahid, 64, who was nicknamed 'Boss man', was sentenced for a range of sexual offences.
The father-of-three was one of seven men convicted in June for the string of attacks.
Members of his grooming gang carried out the offences in various locations, including filthy flats, cars, car parks, alleyways, disused warehouses and on rancid mattresses across the Greater Manchester town, a court heard.
Some of the men groomed the victims while working at an old market stall in the town, which Zahid ran.
Their victims were sexually exploited from the age of 13, were treated as "sex slaves" and expected to "have sex with the men whenever and wherever they wanted".
Read more: New investigation into grooming gangs finds abuse in '85 local areas'
Referred to in court as Girl A and Girl B, they both had "deeply troubled home lives" and were plied with drugs, alcohol and cigarettes and offered places to stay by their groomers.
Girl A told a jury at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court that she could have been targeted by more than 200 offenders as her phone number was swapped but said “there was that many it was hard to keep count”.
On Monday, in a statement read out by prosecutor Rossano Scamardella KC, she said: “My life has been destroyed from the abuse of these men.
“The abuse has affected every part of my life, from what I look like, relationships, health, to my mental health.“Over the last 10 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 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.
"And now because of the case I’m losing part of my adult life, continually revisiting the abuse of my childhood.
”Girl B read her victim personal statement from the witness box as she urged other victims to come forward to the police.
“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.”
Judge Jonathan Seely praised both women for their “extraordinary courage” in making their statements, coming forward with their complaints and then going through the trial process.
In 2016, Zahid was jailed for five years after he was convicted of engaging in sexual activity in 2005 and 2006 with a 14-year-old girl whom he met when she visited his stall to buy tights for school.
He was one of many men who called her phone number “out of the blue” and went on to groom the “extremely vulnerable” teenager.
Ahmed, 67, of Corona Avenue, Oldham, and Bashir, 50, formerly of Napier Street East, Oldham, were jailed for 27 years and 29 years after they were found guilty of multiple counts of rape and indecency with a child, in relation to Girl B.
Bashir was sentenced in his absence after he absconded while on bail before the trial got under way. He is believed to be out of the country.
Taxi drivers Mohammed Shahzad, 44, of Beswicke Royds Street, Rochdale, Naheem Akram, 49, of Manley Road, Rochdale, and Nisar Hussain, 41, of New Field Close, Rochdale, were all convicted of multiple counts of rape against Girl A.
Both Shahzad and Akram were jailed for 26 years and Hussain was sentenced to 19 years in prison.
Roheez Khan, 39, of Athole Street, Rochdale, was jailed for 12 years after he was found guilty of a single count of rape against Girl A.
Social services and police have apologised for their past failings surrounding the victims.
Sentencing, Judge Jonathan Seely said: “Both girls were highly vulnerable, both had deeply troubled backgrounds and were known to the authorities. They were highly susceptible to the advances of these men and others, and both were sexually abused by numerous other men.
“They were passed around for sex – abused, humiliated, degraded and then discarded.“Both were seriously let down by those whose job it was to protect them.”
He said Girl B was “failed woefully” and noted how she was “chillingly described” in a social services document as having prostituted herself at 10 years old.