Usman Sultan, a 30-year-old man from Keighley, West Yorkshire, has been jailed for 12 years after being found guilty of raping a vulnerable teenage girl more than a decade ago. The offences, committed when Sultan was aged 16 or 17, were part of a broader grooming gang investigation in Keighley between 2008 and 2009, where the victim, a child at the time, was regularly plied with alcohol and subjected to sexual abuse by multiple perpetrators.
The case came to light when the victim, now an adult, reported the abuse to West Yorkshire Police, leading to a painstaking investigation that resulted in the prosecution of eight men. Sultan was the eighth member of the group to be convicted following two trials at Bradford Crown Court. Despite protesting his innocence, a jury found him guilty last year of three charges of rape against the complainant, who cannot be identified for legal reasons.
During the sentencing on Friday, July 1, 2022, Judge Andrew Hatton described the harrowing impact on the victim, noting her victim impact statement made for distressing reading. He highlighted that some of the rapes occurred while other men laughed or encouraged Sultan, emphasising elements of degradation and humiliation. The judge reduced the sentence from 15 years to 12 years due to Sultan's young age at the time of the offences, stipulating that he must serve at least eight years before being eligible for release. Sultan will also be required to register as a sex offender for life.
Barrister John Batchelor, representing Sultan, maintained that his client had been wrongly identified. However, the court proceedings underscored the severity of the grooming and exploitation, with the victim having endured severe psychological harm. Seven other men had previously been sentenced to nearly 80 years in total for similar abuses against the same victim, including Amjad Hussain, jailed for 12 years in March 2022; Nazir Khan, 12 years; Kamran Hussain, five years; Omar Safdar, 12 years; Imran Sabir, 12 years; Hassan Basharat, 12 years; and Barber Hussain, 13 years.
Detective Chief Inspector Alan Weekes of Bradford District Police praised the victim's courage in coming forward and giving evidence, stating: 'The abuse she endured robbed her of her childhood and I hope seeing all of these men sent to prison today for these horrendous offences she was subjected to will allow her to start to look forward to the future.' The victim herself expressed that her motivation was to prevent such abuse from happening to others and to encourage other survivors to come forward.
This case, reported by Yorkshire Live on July 2, 2022, highlights the long-term pursuit of justice by West Yorkshire Police in historical child sexual exploitation cases.