Grooming gang ringleader admits abusing girls

Ashley Darbyshire pictured outside Liverpool Crown Court

The ringleader of a grooming gang has admitted a spate of sexual offences against underage girls.

Ashley William Darbyshire pleaded guilty to 19 charges involving five different victims at Liverpool Crown Court earlier.

Darbyshire, 28, appeared in court after a trial where eight other men were convicted of a raft of offences against a "young and impressionable" girl between the ages of 13 and 15.

Those offences all took place at or near a property in Wigan, Greater Manchester, which became known as the "party house".

Darbyshire's offences included three rapes, 12 counts of sexual activity with a child, three counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and one of taking indecent photographs.

Ashley Darbyshire played a "pivotal role" in the abuse, according to a judge

The abuse of the girls happened between 2015 and 2018.

Judge Simon Medland KC told Darbyshire: "I heard in the first trial how your conduct led on to other offences."

The judge also said Darbyshire, of Bolton Road in Westhoughton, played a "pivotal role in the facts".

He granted Darbyshire bail because of health problems following a stroke, but told him that a "substantial, immediate custodial sentence is inevitable".

The earlier trial heard that the girl considered herself to be in a relationship with some of the men but they did not care whether she consented to sex or not.

The prosecution said the defendants were part of a "malign friendship group" who preyed on the girl.

Darbyshire and the others will be sentenced next month.