Three found guilty of assaulting young girl in Telford

Defendants (L-R) Nazeem Akhtar, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammed Ali Sultan, Amjad Hussain and Shafiq Younas all denied wrongdoing

Three men have been convicted of sexually assaulting a young girl in Telford between 2000 and 2003.

Five men have been tried for abusing the girl who said she was forced to perform sex acts in a churchyard and was raped above a shop.

The jury unanimously agreed verdicts for three of the defendants earlier.

Deliberations are continuing on another separate charge faced by one of the convicted men, and in the case of two other separate co-accused.

The offences are alleged to have started when the girl, now an adult, was 12 years old.

Opening the case at Birmingham Crown Court, Michelle Heeley QC prosecuting, had said the victim had been "passed around like a piece of meat for the sexual gratification of several young men, some of whom are in the dock".

• Latest news from the West Midlands

The defendants are:

• Mohammed Ali Sultan, 33, formerly of Telford, who has been convicted of rape and three counts of indecent assault. Jurors heard at trial how he already had previous convictions in both 2012 and 2015 for "similar offences against young girls".

• Amjad Hussain, 38, of Acacia Drive, Leegomery, Telford, was convicted of a single count of indecent assault. Deliberations are ongoing for a similar separate charge he is facing.

• Mohammad Rizwan, 37, of Mafeking Road, Telford, was also found guilty of two counts of indecent assault.

• Deliberations are continuing in the case of Shafiq Younas, 35, of Regent Street, Wellington, near Telford, who denies indecent assault, and Nazam Akhtar, of Victoria Avenue, Wellington, who denies rape.

The trial continues.