Latest Offenders Bradford

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A SCOUT leader has been jailed for four years after committing sex offences involving two schoolgirls, in one case at a Scout camp.

Sentencing Peter Gavin at Leeds Crown Court yesterday, Judge James Spencer QC said he had undergone the relevant safeguarding training to be in his position of trust with the Scout group concerned and therefore knew it was wrong to take advantage of their naivety.

“You knew as well as anybody else it was illegal to do what you did and I am quite sure you only did it for your own sexual gratification.”

Mark McKone, prosecuting, said in early 2015 the girls began to have online contact with Gavin, and there came a point when he realised who he was in contact with and continued to speak to them privately.

An “online relationship” then developed between him and one of the girls, although she was only 14 at the time. He told police later he realised she had a “crush” on him.

During the course of this contact they discussed sex and the defendant sent her an indecent picture of himself and she sent him some pictures of her naked breasts, said Mr McKone.

She described a break-up between them prior to a Scout camp in May last year where Gavin, 24, committed offences involving the second girl.

The second girl was also only 14 and he persuaded her to meet him late one night at a toilet block that he knew could be locked from the inside.

Once he had locked them in he kissed her, undressed her, touched her sexually and persuaded her to perform a sex act on him before they returned to their respective tents.

Mr McKone said it was clear from what Gavin later said in police interview that he knew that girl was upset by what had happened in their sexual encounter because he accepted he had apologised to her.

John Ozyer, representing Gavin, said texts between him and the second girl showed he had apologised more than once for what had happened that night.

“He accepts he was in a position of trust and clearly abused that trust.”

Since then he had voluntarily attended the Safer Lives programme.

Gavin, of Chats Wood Fold, Oakenshaw, Bradford, admitted one offence of causing a child to engage in sexual activity and two of sexual activity with a child and was ordered to register as a sex offender for life.

Judge Spencer said there had to be a jail sentence since he had encouraged the first girl to secretly have an “online” relationship with him rather than steer her away from such contact, then when that was petering out he had groomed the second girl and taken advantage of her.

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A 64-YEAR-OLD man who drove a barely teenage girl to an isolated wooded area and defiled her has been jailed for 13 years.

Tariq Syed threatened his 13-year-old victim to ensure her silence before offering her mother 15,000 for the family to return to their native Romania.

Judge David Hatton QC said Syed had groomed and terrified his victim during the ordeal, which took place in September 2014.

Father-of-five Syed, of Pemberton Drive, Little Horton, Bradford, had denied charges of rape and perverting the course of justice, but a jury at Bradford Crown Court took less than two hours to find him guilty yesterday.

He was cleared of a charge of causing the girls mother actual bodily harm by attacking her with a knife at the Bradford takeaway where she worked.

During the trial, prosecutor Sharon Beattie said that Syed had befriended the girls family, giving her phones, clothes, and a computer tablet.

Her mother became suspicious but Syed told her he wanted to help as the family were not well off.

The woman confronted the child, telling her she knew the old man, as they called Syed, had collected her from school.

The police were informed when the girl revealed that Syed had forced her to have sex with him.

She was screaming but he said if she did not let him do it, he would kill her and bury her there, Miss Beattie said.

The jury heard that Syeds semen was found on the inside of the girls school trousers after the incident, and Dr Mark Dale said forensic results were in-keeping with the view he had engaged in some kind of sexual activity with her.

Syed told the police the girls mother would do anything for money and blamed her for putting her up to inventing the rape allegation.

He said his semen had already been on the trousers before he gave them to the girl, and asserted he had taken her for an abortion at a clinic in Leeds on the day the rape took place.

Ordering him to register as a sex offender for life, Judge Hatton told Syed: You took a girl barely into her thirteenth year to an isolated location. You defiled her.

You had targeted her for that specific purpose. This offence was a consequence of grooming.

You issued threats of what would become of her unless she kept her silence. You terrified her.

You intimidated her mother by threatening her and offering a significant sum of money to return to Romania to get her and your victim out of the way, anticipating you would thereby get away with it. Well, you have not got away with it.

West Yorkshire Police said the sentencing of Syed had marked a successful conclusion to a lengthy investigation which saw two detectives fly out to Romania in their pursuit of justice.

A spokesman said that when the rape was reported the subsequent investigation was immediately picked up by the Bradford District Safeguarding Unit.

Enquiries quickly established Syed as a suspect and he was arrested a short time later, but he denied the offence and was bailed pending further enquiries.

Syed was arrested again the following month after the victim's family claimed he had offered them money to return to Romania.

He was bailed with conditions not to approach the family and later charged with both offences.

But, just as the trial was due to get underway at court in August last year, the victim and her family returned to Romania unexpectedly.

Concerned that proceedings may not go ahead if the victim and her mother refused to attend court, Detective Constable Charlotte Grose and Detective Sergeant Amanda Middleton flew out to the country to make sure arrangements were in place for them to give evidence via a video link.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Howard, said: "This case shows the determination and the desire of our detectives to get justice for the victim and her family.

"Syed was an evil man who thought that by throwing money at the family he would get them to drop the case against him.

"We are delighted at the sentence he has received and hope it will give the victim and her family some closure.

"We also hope it will encourage others to report sexual offences to the Bradford District Safeguarding Unit, whose specially trained officers will investigate every report sensitively and thoroughly with the aim of bringing perpetrators to justice."

Mark Burns-Williamson, West Yorkshires Police and Crime Commissioner, added: "I would like to commend the bravery shown by the victim and their family in coming forward to report Syed.

"His crimes were absolutely deplorable and his actions following arrest even more so.

"Tackling child sexual abuse is an absolute priority, as proven by the tireless and dedicated work of West Yorkshire Police in this case.

"I would urge anyone who feels they may have been a victim to come forward and report it to the police. You will be listened to and support will be provided."

Speaking after the sentence, a spokesman for the NSPCC said: Syeds sickening actions will have had a damaging effect on his young victim and her family.

These were calculated attacks involving a disturbing level of grooming on a vulnerable child, and Syeds lack of remorse, coupled with his attempts to evade justice, are deeply shocking.

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Bilal Ziarab, (Billy or Browny) 21, of Sedgwick Close, Manningham, Bradford, was given two concurrent 12-year sentences for rape.

Keighley Child Sexual Abuse Ring

The Keighley child sexual abuse ring refers to a group of twelve men who were convicted of committing serious sexual offences against two underage girls in Keighley and Bradford, located in West Yorkshire, England. The offences occurred between 2011 and 2012.

The main victim was between 13 and 14 years old when she was subjected to repeated sexual abuse by ten of the perpetrators. A second girl was also abused, though to a lesser extent. The crimes included rape and various forms of sexual exploitation.

Following a trial at Bradford Crown Court, the men were found guilty in December 2015 by unanimous jury verdicts. In February 2016, they were collectively sentenced to over 130 years in prison.

The case was one of several high-profile investigations into child sexual exploitation in northern England during the 2010s, highlighting systemic failures in protecting vulnerable children and prompting widespread public and governmental scrutiny.

Memebers:

• Khalid Raja Mahmood - 17-year extended sentence for two charges of rape and three charges of sexual activity with a child.
• Tauqeer Hussain - 18 years for two counts of rape against the first victim and one rape against another teenage girl.
• Yasser Kabir - 20 years for three counts of rape against the first victim and four charges of rape, two charges of sexual assault, two charges of assault by penetration and fourcharges of causing a child to engage in sexual activity against two young girls.
• Sufyan Ziarab - 15 years for two counts of rape.
• Bilal Ziarab - 12 years for two counts of rape.
• Israr Ali - 3-and-half-years in a young offenders institution for one count of rape.
• Nasir Khan - 13 years for one count of rape.
• Saqib Younis - 13 years for one count of rape.
• Hussain Sardar - 6 years in a young offenders institution for one count of rape.
• Zain Ali - 8 years in a young offenders institution for one count of rape.
• Faisal Khan - 13 years for one count of rape.
• Mohammed Akram - 5 years for one count of sexual activity with a child.

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AN “INFATUATED” married man who sexually abused a 13-year-old girl in his Audi car on Baildon Moor has been jailed for six years.

Farooq Miah, 29, groomed and manipulated the child, buying her a gift, drinks and ice cream and isolating her from family and friends, Bradford Crown Court heard today.

When concerns about the “relationship” were raised on a trafficking website, Miah told his victim to lie to the police, prosecutor Gerald Hendron said.

The child at first denied that Miah, of Grosvenor Road, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD8, had abused her and tried to conceal her phone from investigating officers. She then disclosed that he had met her late at night in a fast food restaurant and taken her in his Audi on to Baildon Moor.

He bought ice cream and drinks and they smoked cigarettes. Miah began by touching her indecently and progressed to having oral sex with her, Mr Hendron said.

He took a video on the girl’s phone of her performing a sex act on him.

It was found by the police, along with the 996 calls and texts between Miah and the child.

Miah pleaded guilty to eight charges of sexual activity with a child and a single count of making an indecent image.

She told the police that Miah sulked if she refused to engage in sexual activity with him. The girl said in her victim impact statement that she believed at the time that Miah was in love with her.

Miah’s barrister, Taryn Turner, said he had pleaded guilty to all the offences and been held in custody since June 7.

She conceded: “This is a bad business and it is accepted that it must be marked with an immediately effective custodial sentence.”

Mrs Turner said that Miah was a married man whose wife was expecting their child.

“He had an infatuation for this young girl and that led to this appalling series of offences against her,” she said.

Miah felt remorse and disgust about what he had done.

The Recorder of Bradford, Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC, said Miah seduced a 13-year-old girl.

He knew her age and solicited her affections with grooming and manipulation.

“The girl has been deeply affected by the abuse of a paedophile,” Judge Durham Hall said.

Miah must sign on the sex offender register indefinitely and the judge made a Sexual Harm Prevention Order until further order.

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A 29-year-old man was jailed for three years and four months for having sex with a girl of 14.

The teenager thought Barry Masters was “a really nice man” and said he made her laugh by doing stupid things on the trampoline, Bradford Crown Court heard.

But Masters, of Lawkholme Lane, Keighley, abused the child’s trust by having sex with her at his flat after he had been drinking, prosecutor Andrew Kershaw said.

The court heard yesterday that the girl’s parents were deeply damaged by what Masters had done to their daughter.

Mr Kershaw said the teenager’s mother challenged Masters about the nature of their friendship after he was seen hugging her.

Masters said he was comforting the girl because she was in trouble at school.

The teenager visited him at his flat and when her mother called him “a paedophile” he admitted he had had sex with her on one occasion.

Sophie Drake, Masters’ barrister, said: “It was a one-off, much-regretted incident.”

He had lost contact with his two daughters because of what he had done and he hated himself, the court was told.

Masters had a drink problem and he had been seeking professional help to cut down his alcohol intake, it was said.

He pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and had no previous convictions for sexual offences.

Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC made a Sexual Offences Prevention Order banning Masters from contacting the girl or having any unsupervised contact with girls under 16 for an indefinite period.

He must sign on the sex offenders’ register, notifying the police about where he is living.

Judge Durham Hall said Masters had robbed the girl of her childhood and abused the trust she had placed in him.

Her parents had been caused very real suffering by his actions.

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A drug-fuelled rapist who tricked his way into a vulnerable 63-year-old womans home and subjected her to a degrading attack has been jailed for five years and four months. Thomas Ullah, 22, sat hunched in the dock at Bradford Crown Court with his head in his hands as his barrister described the assault as awful, degrading and distressing. Ullah, of Fairhaven Green, Idle, Bradford, pleaded guilty to raping the woman on August 8, a fortnight after his release from a 15-month prison sentence for supplying class A drugs. Prosecutor Richard Smith said Ullahs victim, who was not known to him, was preyed on by local youths who used her Bradford home to smoke cannabis. They ate her food, took money and dossed down uninvited. Mr Smith said Ullah was not among that group but he had friends who were. The woman lived alone and suffered from depression, the court was told yesterday. She had fallen asleep after watching TV when Ullah knocked on the door at 1.15am. He had earlier exposed himself in front of CCTV cameras while out in Bradford, Mr Smith said. Ullah told his victim he was called Joe and tricked his way in by claiming that a man she knew was on his way over. He told her he had taken cocaine and M-cat and had just come out of prison. Mr Smith said Ullah dragged the woman into the hall, kicked open her bedroom door and threw her into the room. He stripped her naked and raped her on the bed, threatening: Scream bitch and youre dead. Afterwards, the woman was shaking with fear. She told the police she felt like a piece of scum. The woman had bruised arms and legs and Ullah was linked to her by DNA evidence. His barrister, Jayne Beckett, said he had taken a cocktail of drugs and alcohol. He was sickened to the core by what he had done and struggling to come to terms with it. Judge David Hatton QC said Ullahs victim was devastated and her life would never be the same. After the case, Detective Inspector Ian Lawrance, of Operation Topaz, West Yorkshire Polices rape investigation unit, said: Ullah took advantage of a vulnerable member of the community in the worst possible way. He reached the depth of depravity in his actions and I am extremely pleased to see he will now spend some considerable time behind bars. Ullahs victim, who was in court, said she was upset and devastated that the sentence was not longer.

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A pervert primary school teacher has been jailed for three years for indecently assaulting girls at his school, all aged just eight and nine years old.

At the time of the offences, he put one of his young victims in the dunces corner after the school disbelieved her claims of abuse, a court heard.

Bearded Graham Nichols, 62, indecently assaulted five girls at St Annes Catholic Primary in Keighley, where he taught from the 1970s to 1980.

Prosecutor Judith Naylor yesterday told Bradford Crown Court that two of the girls had complained about his behaviour at the time but the headmistress, a Sister Eugenie, did not believe them and Nichols placed one of them at the dunces table.

Nichols, of Storr Hill, Wyke, Bradford, had pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to ten charges of indecent assault and one of gross indecency with a child.

He was told by Judge James Stewart QC: You abused your position as a teacher, a position of trust. You were looking after these children who were entitled to look up to you. When one complained, you denied it and had her put in the dunces corner.

A further offence of indecent assault was taken into consideration after another woman came forward, following publicity in the Telegraph & Argus, to say she had been abused by Nichols at St Columbas School in Bradford.

Mrs Naylor said Nichols indecently touched the girls as they stood next to him for reading or to have their work marked.

On one occasion he asked one girl to stay behind at lunchtime. He took her to the book corner, asked her to lie on the floor and expose herself and committed a sex act in front of her.

Nichols left St Annes and became a supply teacher in the Bradford area. The offences came to light many years later when one of the victims was taking a child protection course as she trained to be a nursery nurse and thought about what had happened to her.

When he was arrested Nichols, who had no previous convictions, made admissions to police and said he had committed the offences out of curiosity as his knowledge of girls was very limited.

Michael Reeves, representing Nichols, said he was not a predatory paedophile and was suffering from a personality disorder at the time of the offences.

Judge Stewart said the offences were not the most serious, though the act of gross indecency was nasty.

He ordered that Nichols register as a sex offender indefinitely and made a Sexual Offences Prevention Order to stop him having unsupervised contact with children under 16.

After the case, Detective Sergeant Stephen Hanson, of West Yorkshire Polices Child and Public Protection Unit, said: Primary school years are supposed to be the happiest of a persons life, but these women have been traumatised by the actions of Nichols.

We would like to commend the bravery of the ladies who have come forward to help us bring Nichols to justice.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Leeds was asked for a comment by the T&A, but did not respond.