Oxford sex exploitation trial: Girl faced 'orchestration of fear'

The girl was abused for five months at Windmill House, a staffed young people's hostel

They subjected a teenage girl to years of sexual exploitation, grooming and intimidation, but now three serial-abusers from Oxford are starting long jail sentences.

As their victim was driven out to the woods, her young son left behind at home, she was sure she was going to die.

Accompanied by Akhtar Dogar and Assad Hussain, two of the men found guilty at Oxford Crown Court earlier of a series of sexual assaults and rape, the woman, known as Girl A, was shown a spot in the ground.

Dogar threatened to break her neck if she went to the police, claiming the spot in question was the grave of a previous victim.

'Piece of meat'

Prosecutors described this shocking moment as part of the "orchestration of fear" she was subjected to over a number of years by Hussain, Dogar, and his brother Anjum Dogar.

Girl A was first befriended by the gang on the streets of Oxford and offered drink and drugs. She had been in care since she was a toddler, and had become addicted from an early age.

She was 15 when the men started abusing her in 1999. She was driven to an address in Jackdaw Lane four or five times a week, and, in her words, "used like a piece of meat".

At the age of 16, she moved to Windmill House in Headington, a staffed hostel for young homeless people, where the abuse continued for five months.

Assad Hussein, Anjum Dogar and Akhtar Dogar (l-r) pictured after their arrests in 2013 as part of Operation Bullfinch

Assad Hussein, Anjum Dogar and Akhtar Dogar (l-r) pictured before their latest trial and after three years in prison

She left Oxford and had a son before returning in 2005, to live in a flat in Thomas Mews. The men found her and she fell back into their world of drugs and sex parties.

Hussain and the Dogar brothers were already serving prison sentences for abusing girls when they were arrested again as part of Operation Sabaton.

They were jailed in 2013 as part of Operation Bullfinch, a previous inquiry into a child sex abuse ring in Oxford.

Girl A was driven to an address in Jackdaw Lane four or five times a week and used by the men

Speaking after they were jailed, their victim said: "I would urge any person who is struggling or feeling trapped by any form of abuse to come forward.

"I am growing in confidence each day that passes. My future now holds hope, which is something that I was unable to see before speaking out about my past.

"In coming forward I have regained control of my life."

Det Ch Insp Mark Glover from Thames Valley Police said he had no doubt that some of the abuse, in parks and car parks, would have been seen by members of the public but the police had no records of any crimes being reported.

He said none of the men had expressed any remorse or regret for the grooming and abuse.

He added that crimes of child sexual exploitation (CSE) were not confined to any one ethnic group.

A subsequent serious case review found as many as 373 children may have been abused by Oxfordshire gangs since 1999. Police have said the latest court case is unlikely to be the last.