Child sex abuse ringleader handed further sentence

Mohammed Imran Ali Akhtar was the ringleader of a gang in Rotherham that sexually exploited and abused young girls between 1997 and 2013

The jailed ringleader of a gang that sexually exploited children in Rotherham has been handed a further prison sentence for raping a 13-year-old girl.

Mohammed Imran Ali Akhtar was handed a 23-year sentence in 2018 for child sex abuse offences committed between 1998 and 2005.

In October last year, Akhtar pleaded guilty to further offences of rape and indecent assault which he committed between 2001 and 2003.

At Sheffield Crown Court on Friday, Akhtar, 42, was sentenced to 12 years in prison, to run concurrently with his existing sentence.

'Very vulnerable'

The court heard the victim, now an adult, came forward after seeing news reports of Akhtar's conviction as part of Operation Stovewood in 2018.

The court was told when the abuse took place, the girl had been "very vulnerable and living in difficult circumstances".

Judge Sarah Wright said Akhtar targeted his victim in Rotherham town centre by calling her over to his car and began to groom her by giving her alcohol and drugs.

Akhtar pleaded guilty to two counts of rape and two counts of indecent assault, with one of each referring to multiple incidents, on what would have been the first day of his trial in October.

Michael Collins, mitigating, said the offences were committed before Akhtar married and had a child.

Mr Collins said his client had mental health difficulties which were "making incarceration harder" but was making "proper efforts" to rehabilitate.

"He has taken a number of courses focusing on education and is now an education mentor to others," Mr Collins said.

"He is doing what he can in prison to improve himself with a view to returning to his wife and child when he is released."

Sentencing Akhtar, Judge Wright commended the victim for her bravery in coming forward and told the defendant: "Her childhood and adolescence can never be reclaimed, the effect of your offending on her cannot be overestimated."