3 Pak-origin brothers, uncle jailed for raping 15 girls in UK

London: Three Pakistani-origin brothers and their uncle were today sentenced to up to 35 years in prison for raping as many as 15 teenage girls in the UK.

Arshid Hussain, the 40-year-old ringleader guilty of 23 offences, was sentenced to 35 years while 39-year-old Basharat got 25 years and their 36-year-old youngest brother Bannaras was jailed for 19 years at Sheffield Crown Court. Their 53-year-old uncle Qurban Ali, found guilty of conspiracy to rape, was jailed for 10 years while co- conspirator Karen MacGregor, 58, was jailed for 13 years.

MacGregor's housemate Shelley Davies, 40, was handed 18- months suspended sentence as her defence team argued that she herself had been a victim of abuse in her childhood.

The gang's six members led by Arshid were sentenced to a total of 103 years.

Sentencing the gang, Judge Sarah White said the harm they had caused was of "unimaginable proportions".

"The impact of your offending upon the victims, their families and indeed the wider community has been devastating. Their childhood and adolescence can never be reclaimed. Each has suffered immense psychological harm. They continue, and will continue to suffer throughout their lives as a result of your actions," she said.

During a two-month trial, the court heard how the Hussain brothers known as Mad Ash, Bash and Bono and their associates subjected the girls to years of rape, violence and prostitution.

As many as 15 girls, 12 of whom who were in court for the sentencing, were targeted and subjected to brutal and degrading acts between 1987 and 2003. All six accused were found guilty by a jury on Wednesday.

Detective Chief Inspector Martin Tait of South Yorkshire police, who led the investigation said, "The sentences imposed are huge. We are pleased for the victims. One of them said to me in court, she never thought she would see this day."

It emerged in court that Arshid had been planning fertility treatment with his wife to have a baby, despite jurors hearing he had fathered children with some of the girls he abused and forced them to have abortions.

The details came out as part of an unsuccessful application by his legal team asking the judge to rule he was unfit to stand trial because of his disability after he had been shot in the abdomen in 2005. His defence counsel had claimed he was paraplegic and confined to bed.

The Hussain brothers are also likely to stripped of their British citizenship and deported to Pakistan at the end of their sentences.