Four men have been jailed for over 37 years for a range of serious sexual offences as part of Operation Doublet - an investigation into child sexual exploitation, mainly in Rochdale.
The following men were convicted after a trial at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court.
39 year old Irshad Wani, of Whitworth Road, Rochdale was found guilty of seven counts of sexual activity with a child and one count of child grooming. He was sentenced to nine years in prison.
44 year old Gul Zaman, of HMP Manchester, was found guilty of rape and inciting a child into prostitution. He was sentenced to ten years in prison.
57 year old Mohammed Ishaque, of Denton Street, Rochdale, pleaded guilty to inciting a child to engage in prostitution. He was sentenced to eleven years in prison.
29 year old Shohaib Shabbir, of Copster Hill Road, Oldham, pleaded guilty to rape and sexual activity with a child. He was sentenced to seven years in prison.
The convictions relate to offences committed against two victims who were aged between 15 and 16 at the time of the abuse. The abuse happened between 2004 and 2008.
Detective Chief Inspector Jamie Daniels, the Senior Investigating Officer for Operation Doublet, said: “Operation Doublet was launched following the 2011 investigation into child sexual exploitation in Rochdale and we identified a number of cases, which broadly took place between 2004 and 2008, across Greater Manchester where teenage girls had been sexually exploited by older men."
“The victims have shown enormous courage and without their support in what has been a difficult investigation, we would not be here today."
“Working with our partners we have been able to identify vulnerable people and tackle CSE in a way that puts the victim’s wellbeing at the centre of all we do and I’d particularly like to pay tribute to DC Fitzsimons in driving this case forwards on behalf of the victims.”
“We made a commitment to bring perpetrators of sexual abuse to justice and today is yet another illustration of that promise being realised.”
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