Four Pakistani-origin men belonging to a single family were today found guilty of raping and sexually abusing teenage girls for over 16 years in a town in northern England.
Three brothers and their uncle were found guilty of multiple rapes, indecent assaults and conspiracy to rape girls as young as 11-years-old in the South Yorkshire town of Rotherham.
Co-conspirators Karen MacGregor, 58, and Shelley Davies, 40, were also convicted of conspiracy to procure prostitutes and false imprisonment at Sheffield Crown Court today.
All six will be sentenced on Friday.
Brothers Arshid, Basharat and Bannaras Hussain targeted 15 girls, subjecting them to brutal and degrading acts between 1987 and 2003, the court was told.
Arshid Hussain was the 40-year-old mastermind and found guilty of 23 offences and 39-year-old Basharat Hussain was found guilty of 15 offences.
The women - Karen MacGregor and Shelly Davies - who were found guilty of assisting them in their abuse were found guilty of four and two charges respectively.
The third brother, 36-year-old Bannaras Hussain, had already pleaded guilty to 10 offences before the three-month trial started.
Qurban Ali, the 53-year-old uncle of the Hussain brothers was found guilty of conspiracy to rape.
Detective Chief Inspector Martin Tait of South Yorkshire police described the verdicts as a "crucial milestone" after years of violence and sexual abuse.
He said: "I can't begin to put into word the trauma that these women experienced at such a young age.
"I'm pleased that their voices have finally been heard and believed and that those responsible have been publicly held to account for their crimes."
Peter Mann, from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), added: "These defendants in their differing ways targeted these teenage girls because they were vulnerable and then facilitated their systematic sexual abuse.
"They were mocked and spat at, some of the violence was extreme and protracted."
He singled out Arshid Hussain as having "played a key role" in the abuse.
"He was domineering and in some instances brutal in his treatment of the girls. He used them for his own gratification then often prostituted them or passed them on to his brothers or associates," he said.
Two other defendants, Sajid and Majid Bostan, were acquitted of all charges.
