Huddersfield grooming gang members jailed

Four men who were members of a gang that groomed and sexually abused vulnerable girls in Huddersfield have been jailed by a judge who told them their abuse "defies understanding".

Leeds Crown Court heard on Thursday how some of the three teenage victims of Mohammed Akram, Niaz Ahmed, Mohammed Imran Ibrar and Asif Bashir were plied with drugs and alcohol before being abused against their will.

The four men were convicted of committing offences against the girls between 2004 and 2010 as part of a cycle "of depravity and exploitation".

A judge told them that the girls' victim impact statements made for "harrowing reading", adding that one girl felt like she was "used goods" at the age of just 17 and only managed to escape the defendants when she became pregnant.

The four were members of a 20-strong gang of men that carried out the "inhuman" abuse of a total of 15 girls over a period spanning from 2004 to 2011.

The gang was split into three separate trials, with Akram, Ahmed, Ibrar and Bashir being found guilty of 10 offences by a jury last month.

The four defendants sentenced on Thursday were jailed for a total of 36 years between them, making the total sentence for the 20 gang members 257 years.