OLD BAILEY: Sentencing hears of destruction left behind by sex ring’s crimes

Threat of deportation and an unachieved dream of taking over a family business gave hints of the home lives of the men who abused two schoolgirls.

During mitigation on Monday, the court heard a range of reasons that the men’s lives would be changed forever by jail time, and attempts to explain away their vile actions.

The court heard that Mohammed Imran, who was handed a 19 and-a-half year jail term faces deportation to Pakistan when he is released.

Imran, 38, who committed his crimes in Aylesbury, but was arrested in Bradford, said in a statement that he feels ‘guilt and shame’ for his actions, which involved selling one of the girls for sex, and committing rape.

The court also heard about the home life of Asif Hussain, 33, who worked at a Tesco store in Milton Keynes prior to his arrest. Hussain was described by his barrister Lesley Manley as ‘not a particularly worldly person.” The court heard that around the time of Hussain’s offending he was having personal difficulties at home, and that his cousin had been murdered in Pakistan.

Vikram Singh, 45, jailed for 17-and-a-half years, was told by the judge that he had a big part to play in the ‘degradation’ of Woman A.

His barrister Nardine Radford said that the trial had a ‘devastating effect on his wife and children, and their standing with their church and community’.

She said: “He won’t be there to get the effect of that, it will be the people who are left behind.”

Arshad Jani, 33, jailed for 13 years, had a previous conviction for battery, after intervening in an incident at his uncle’s butcher’s shop.

The court heard that Jani worked as a taxi and bus driver and in the shop. His barrister Elizabeth Lowe said that he had hoped to take over the business one day, but his family’s attitude towards him has now changed.

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