Rotherham child sex abuse scandal: Survivor confronts abusers in court: ‘I am your karma’

Seven men convicted of a string of child sexual abuse offences faced off in court today against a survivor of their sick abuse.

A victim of the Rotherham child abuse scandal has given a powerful victim impact statement, addressing all the defendants in the dock and telling them: “I am your karma.”

The suspects arrived one by one, waving to their families in the public gallery.

Several men greeted each other in the dock and an Urdu interpreter sat with one of the suspects.

Seven men convicted of sexually abusing young girls in Rotherham

Seven men convicted of a string of child abuse offences were brought before a judge today by a survivor of their sick abuse

NCA

Chief Prosecutor Nicholas Lumley summarised the case briefly, detailing that the complainants were young at the time of the offences and said they were “exploited” by each of the defendants.

He described how they were manipulated and aggressively forced into sexual acts.

The suspects denied the facts and some even denied knowing the accusers. The women had to be questioned during the trial.

Sheffield Crown Court heard the victims were forced to carry out identification procedures over and over again, confronting each man one by one to confirm their identity.

During the nine-week trial which concluded in June, the court heard that two teenage girls from Rotherham had been victims of “dehumanising” abuse.

The “grueling” ordeal took place in the early 2000s, when the girls – who were between 11 and 16 years old at the time – were manipulated while in foster care.

The court heard they were often given alcohol and drugs before being sexually abused.

The abusers often picked up the girls from children’s homes in the South Yorkshire town.

They were abused all over the city, including in a cemetery, a supermarket parking lot and even behind a daycare center.

Sheffield Crown Court heard how the girls were locked in the homes of their abusers, with one even escaping through a window after being raped.

A nine-week trial concluded in June, in which seven men were found guilty of various forms of child sexual abuse.

Mohammed Amar, 42, Yasser Ajaibe, 39; Mohammed Zameer Sadiq, 49; Mohammed Siyab, 49; Abid Saddiq, 43; Tahir Yasin, 38, and Ramin Bari, 37, will all be sentenced tomorrow.

One of the two survivors of the case addressed the men in the dock and gave a victim impact statement.

She said: “When the abuse started, at the age of 11, I wanted to be friends and be accepted. I followed a group and copied what they did.”

She added that her abuse began on a “primary school playground” where she met them.

“I was only 11, you made me take a test to see if I was a virgin or not, that’s when my abuse started, you made it sound like it was a crime to be a virgin.

“You made me feel ashamed of being a virgin. That same day you sent me away and forced me to perform a sexual act.

“My innocence has been stolen,” she added, saying she felt “sick and disgusted.”

She continued: “I knew it was wrong, but I wanted to belong. You monsters took advantage of my vulnerabilities.

“You started sending me around like I was a fresh piece of meat, from man to man, from town to town. You five played a huge role in exploiting me.

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The survivors came to the court in Sheffield to make their impact statements

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“You raped me, abused me and smuggled me all over England for your own sick and twisted sexual gratification.”

She spoke directly to Yasser Ajaib and said: “Yasser, you did not play a major role in what happened to me. I did not even consider you as one of my main perpetrators. You are still one of my abusers.

“You took me to a child’s room to perform a sex act. What you did was just as sick and wrong.”

She continued: “When I was 11, all I had to do was perform sexual acts. Not long after my 12th birthday, I was raped, and that’s when my exploitation really began.”

She then turned to another rapist in the dock and described one of her assaults.

“My little childish body. I was 12, in the back of a taxi. For you it didn’t last long, for me it lasted like a lifetime. I was scared.”

She continued: “When you raped me, you made sure you did it right. I’ve never felt such pain in my life before.

“You made me bleed. I was so scared to even go to the bathroom. You made my abuse go to the next level. You made it free game.

“If the free drinks, cigarettes and drugs didn’t make me do what I was told, you’d take my phone away and drive me across England.”

She added that one of the abusers “would threaten her into leaving me miles from home.”

“You even became violent when I refused.”

The survivor, who was supported in court by her mother, said: “I don’t want to give you too much of my time, you’ve had my whole childhood and most of my adulthood.

“What I’m going to do is tell you how your abuse has affected and continues to affect me.

“I was addicted to drugs and alcohol because of what you did. I self-harmed and attempted suicide multiple times.

“Was I prepared or was I a snail like they said I was? For years I believed I was a snail. I was just a child, not a snail, and not a problem child. I was vulnerable and crying out for help.

“For years I have suffered from flashbacks, and still do, of smelling the scent of one of my abusers and sometimes I can still hear your laughter when you raped me. I wake up screaming from nightmares, even when I am heavily medicated this still happens.”

She continued: “You took away my childhood, my innocence, my freedom, my family. I was forced to live in children’s homes because of what you did to me.

“Those homes didn’t protect me like they should have, in fact, they made it easier for you to take me away. I was 12, but it was okay for you to continue abusing me.”

Speaking from her notes, she looked directly at those in the dock and said: “By the time I was 16, I had been abused by over 150 men. My education was non-existent. I was violent and angry at the world.

“My mother screamed for help, I didn’t know how to stop it. I lost trust in everyone around me.”

The abuse took place in the 2000s in Rotherham

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She continued, “You ruined my life, but I will not let you ruin my future. I am a fighter and a survivor. I am thriving and fighting. You can and will never take anything away from me again.”

The survivor concluded her emotional statement by saying, “22 years ago you first started manipulating me, and 10 years ago I started my fight for justice.

“You stole my youth, now I take your freedom, I am your karma.”

The victim statement of the second survivor was made by a lawyer from the Public Prosecution Service, who watched via a video link.

She said: “You all came into my life when I was at my most vulnerable, you all made me feel wanted, loved and part of something, something I longed for. Life started to feel good, I felt like I belonged, I started to feel like I was beautiful, that I was someone.

“What I didn’t realize as a vulnerable child was that you all had ulterior motives, that you were all friends with me for reasons I would only understand years later.

“If I’m honest, it’s only in the last nine years that I’ve fully realized how much damage you’ve all caused.”

The statement continued: “You manipulated me and brainwashed me, why did you do all that to me? I was a vulnerable child, you… made me think I was your girlfriend, you told me you were my boyfriend. I was vulnerable, I was lonely, I was a child and you raped me repeatedly.”

To another suspect she said: ‘You held me captive for hours, you locked me in the attic and took my clothes.

“You used me to satisfy your own depraved sexual desires, you raped me.

“It is not normal, it is degrading and downright disgusting to lay your hands on a child in any way, let alone rape them, beat them and lock them up so they cannot escape.”

The court heard her closing statement: “I am a survivor and I am a fighter. I will stay strong and continue to seek justice, I am now in control of my life.

“I hope that in the years to come you feel as alone, scared and isolated as I have felt. You violated and humiliated me when I was a vulnerable child, now it’s your turn to feel as I have felt.”

The men were investigated as part of the National Crime Agency’s Operation Stovewood, which was launched in 2014 after a report by social worker Alexis Jay exposed a widespread child abuse crisis in Rotherham, with more than 1,400 children being sexually abused, mainly by British-Pakistani men.

More than 33 people have now been convicted of offences committed by NCA officers in the operation, which is investigating historical abuse during the same period as the report.

Stovewood is the largest investigation of its kind in the UK, with more than 1,150 potential victims identified, hundreds of arrests and dozens of convictions.

Previously, gangs of five or six men have been convicted following Stovewood’s investigation, but this forthcoming conviction is the largest series of prosecutions by the NCA.

There was another Stovewood investigation that resulted in 13 convictions, but this was split into two trials for logistical reasons. It was not realistic to try them all in court at the same time.

But this series of convictions – the result of a five-year investigation – is certainly the largest successful prosecution in recent years.