Prabhat Nelli

Prabhat Nelli, residing on Sidney Grove in Newcastle, was sentenced to four years' imprisonment at Newcastle Crown Court for his part in a drugs and grooming ring, as uncovered by Operation Sanctuary conducted by Northumbria Police. The investigation convicted 17 men and one woman of sexual offences, including conspiracy to incite prostitution, rape, and drug supply, targeting vulnerable teenage girls aged around 15 or 16.

Nelli's offences involved supplying drugs to victims to enable their coercion into sexual acts, contributing to the gang's strategy of using substances to manipulate and exploit the young women. The abuses took place at multiple locations in Newcastle's West End, characterised by chaotic all-night gatherings with heavy drug use, loud disturbances, and frequent taxi traffic ferrying girls to the sites. John Elvidge QC, the prosecutor, outlined how these parties sounded like nightclubs, with clinking bottles and overt signs of sexual activity alarming neighbours.

On 6 September 2017, Nelli was among five men sentenced, following the imprisonment of ten others in the gang, with more hearings set for the next day. The BBC's article detailed the court's accounts, including a resident's description of the ordeal as making life 'hell', with cannabis odours and noises penetrating adjacent flats. This highlighted the community-wide effects of the ring's operations.

Judge Penny Moreland stressed the deliberate grooming and persistence in targeting underage victims, with evidence from Operation Sanctuary revealing an organised network reliant on drugs for control. Nelli's role supported the conspiracy's sexual exploitation, part of a larger effort that exposed the depth of child sex offences in the area through police intelligence and court testimonies.