Oxford grooming trial: Three men jailed for sexually abusing girl

Three men have been jailed for sexually abusing a schoolgirl in Oxford following an investigation into child sexual exploitation.

Naim Khan, 41, Mohammed Nazir, 44, and Raheem Ahmed, 42, were found guilty of 35 offences against the girl when she was aged between 13 and 15.

Oxford Crown Court heard the girl was used as a "sexual commodity" by older men between 1999 and 2001.

Khan was sentenced to 24 years, Nazir to 20 years, and Ahmed to five years.

The offences included rape and indecent assault.

In an impact statement read to the court, the victim said she had suffered from "severe stress and anxiety" as a result of the crimes committed against her.

She said she struggled to live a normal life day-to-day and she still had a fear of going outside.

"My life has been destroyed," her statement said.

"I cannot form loving or lasting relationships with men. I have not been able to care for my children as a mother should be able to."

To deal with her trauma, she had become addicted to crack cocaine and used other drugs, she added.

Judge Peter Ross said the victim came in contact with Khan who was part of a grooming gang that was operating on the Cowley Road.

He said through the supply of cannabis and alcohol, the victim and another girl were "sucked into the vortex that was this grooming gang".

"This group preyed upon young vulnerable teenage girls," he added.

He said the girls were given a "sense of belonging, a sense of esteem, a sense of adulthood," by Khan and Ahmed.

He said it generated a "sense of obligation" which made them "feel that the sexual abuse perpetrated on them was merely the behaviour of adults".

Judge Ross said Nazir was "not part of the grooming gang" but "took full advantage" of the vulnerable girl.

He said both Khan and Nazir "pimped out" their victim for financial reward.

The three men are the last to be sentenced as part of Operation Silk, a Thames Valley Police investigation into non-recent child sexual exploitation in Oxford.

Khan, formerly of Herschel Crescent, Oxford, was also convicted of indecently assaulting a second girl.

He was found guilty of eight counts of rape, seven counts of indecent assault and one count of supplying a Class B drug.

Nazir, formerly of Wood Farm Road, Oxford, was convicted of seven counts of rape, eight counts of indecent assault and one count of supplying a Class B drug.

Ahmed, formerly of Starwort Path, Oxford, was found guilty of two counts of indecent assault and one count of supplying a Class B drug.

Thirteen men have been convicted since Operation Silk was launched in 2015.

During the trial prosecutor Alan Gardner told the jury the attacks took place "in parks, lavatories, unoccupied houses, and flats".

He said the men created "the notion that sexual activity was part of the deal, something to be provided by the girls in return for what the males gave them".

He added: "There had been grooming behaviour designed to extinguish freedom of choice, to create an illusion of consent."

Principal Investigator Mark Glover said the victims had shown "bravery, commitment and resilience" during the "traumatic process" of the investigation.

He added: "The abuse to which they were subjected to by these men was horrendous and sadistic.

"They were targeted because they were vulnerable and groomed to the point where they did not believe that what was happening to them was wrong.

"They have had to live with the actions of these predatory offenders for the majority of their lives and they have all been impacted in different ways.

"They will never be able to forget what happened to them all those years ago, however I hope they all know what a crucial part they have played in bringing to justice the men who subjected them to such vile abuse for such a long time."

A fourth defendant, Afzal Mohammed, 42, of Randolph Street, Oxford, was found not guilty of one count of rape.

Khan was also accused of one count of kidnap and another of false improvement, but the jury was unable to reach verdicts on those charges.

It also could not reach verdicts on two further counts of rape against Ahmed.