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A sprawling grooming gang case in West Yorkshire has led to the sentencing of 20 people to a combined 277 years. Horrific sexual abuse of vulnerable girls as young as 12 was committed between 1995 and 2003 in Dewsbury and Batley in Kirklees. A major police investigation led to six separate trials at Leeds Crown Court.

Reporting restrictions prevented details of the case being made public until now, with proceedings running from July 2023 until the sentencing of the final defendant last year. The abuse centred on three girls, one of whom was just 12 when the offending began. Jurors heard how the victims were repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted over a number of years, with some supplied with Class A drugs.

The heaviest sentence was handed to Sajid Majid, 53, of Mirfield, who was jailed for 28 years after being convicted of five rapes and three indecent assaults.

Manaf Hussain, 51, of Heckmondwike, was sentenced to 25 years for six rapes and supplying Class A drugs, while Tariq Azam, 57, of Dewsbury, was jailed for 24 years for five rapes and four indecent assaults.

Aurrangzeb Azam, 56, of Dewsbury, received a 20-year sentence after being convicted of 10 rapes and an indecent assault.

Ansar Mahmood Qayum, 49, from Dewsbury, was sentenced to 10 years for three rapes and two indecent assaults. The sentence was added to an existing 20-year term imposed in a separate case in 2022, taking his total jail term to 30 years.

Others sentenced included Shakeel Haq, 58, from Birmingham, who received 19 years for three rapes and false imprisonment, and Rafiq Patel, 73, from Batley, who was jailed for 18 years for two rapes.

Zaheed Ali Novsarka, 58, from Batley, also received 18 years for two rapes.

Mohammed Sheikh, 53, from Batley, was jailed for 14 years for two rapes and two indecent assaults, while Mohammed Yasin, 52, also from Batley, received 14 years for rape and two indecent assaults.

Liaquat Hussain Hanif, 49, from Batley, was sentenced to 12 years and six months for two rapes and supplying Class A drugs.

Ebrahim Mananiat, 56, from Batley, was jailed for 12 years for two rapes, while Ibrahim Khalifa, 87, from Bradford, received 11 years for two rapes.

Shafiq Siddique, 56, from Dewsbury, was jailed for 11 years for rape.

Mohammed Munir Shaffi, 48, from Dewsbury, received nine years for two rapes, while Mohammed Ishtiaq Hussain, 51, also from Dewsbury, was sentenced to eight years for rape.

Abbas Kaji, 57, from Batley, was jailed for seven years for rape.

Donna Lynn, 45, from Cleckheaton, was sentenced to three years for controlling prostitution, while Tasawar Hussain, 46, from Dewsbury, received three years for rape.

Two other men were found by a court to have committed the offences they were accused of but were ruled unfit to enter pleas.

Detective Chief Inspector Rob Stevens, of West Yorkshire Police's Kirklees district, described the offending as "truly appalling sexual abuse" carried out by "heartless predators".

He said victims had been "treated as commodities for the gratification" of the offenders.

DCI Stevens added: "The very significant jailed terms given to some of these men speak volumes about their depravity and the abuse meted out to victims in this case.

"It cannot be stressed more highly that the reason this dreadful offending came to light was the courage of victims who have come forward and reported the offending they were subjected to.

"These women showed enormous bravery in giving evidence in lengthy trials and I hope they can feel a sense of pride in the determination they have displayed to see justice done."