Manzorr Hussain, 54, and his 53-year-old cousin Imtiaz Ali groomed the ‘vulnerable’ teenage girls with drink and drugs before subjecting them to ‘harrowing’ sexual abuse
Manzorr Hussain, 54, was found guilty of seven counts of rape and seven counts of indecent assault(Image: CPS)
Two cousins have been found guilty of grooming and raping five teenage girls in an ‘harrowing’ campaign of abuse.
Manzorr Hussain, 54, and his cousin Imtiaz Ali, 53, were convicted of non-recent child sexual exploitation committed against five girls aged 13 to 16 in Bury between 1996 and 2000. Their victims were given drink and drugs before being abused by the men, Minshull Street Crown Court heard.
They came from troubled backgrounds and were manipulated by the rapists for their own sexual gratification. The abuse occurred mainly in Bury, but also in other locations across Greater Manchester, as well as in Wales.
Imtiaz Ali, 53, was found guilty of five counts of rape, five counts of indecent assault and one count of attempted indecent assault(Image: CPS)
The pair were found guilty following a four week trial, and will be sentenced in December, reports Manchester Evening News.
A third man, Hussain’s older brother Ghulam Hussain, 64, was charged with a ‘number of sexual offences’ in connection with the case but has ‘left the country’, jurors heard during the trial. They were told it was not their task to decide whether Ghulam Hussain was guilty or not guilty.
Opening the case on behalf of the prosecution, Anna Pope said: “It is a case about five teenage girls, who we say were groomed and sexually abused by three men. We say this took place in the late 1990s.
“We say that these sexual offences took place in houses, a hotel, sometimes in a car or a van. A number of the girls, we say, were particularly vulnerable.
“They had troubled backgrounds. The prosecution says that older men took advantage of their personal situations and groomed them with drink, drugs, lifts in a car and a place to spend time, as well as company.
“In reality, we say that this was part of a grooming process and the girls were made to feel like in return they owed something to these men. When sexual activity began and took place between these young teenage girls and much older men, we say that they weren’t truly consenting to any of this.”
Ms Pope claimed Ghulam Hussain was the ‘main man’, who allegedly abused teenage girls then ‘passed them around to others’ including his brother Manzorr Hussain and cousin Ali. The trio all ran market stalls, it was said.
Ghulam Hussain, formerly of Bury, lived in a large home with his wife and children, jurors heard. His younger brother Manzoor Hussain raped and abused girls and ‘arranged for other girls to be available’ for other men, prosecutors said.
Ms Pope said ‘parties’ would be held at an address said to be linked to Ali, where girls would be given drugs and alcohol and be ‘expected to provide sexual services to those there’. One girl raped by both Manzoor Hussain and Imtiaz Ali said she was told that if she didn’t do what they told her she would be taken to the moors, have her clothes taken and left there.
The Crown Prosecution Service said that Hussain took one of his victims to a flat, where she was told to enter a bedroom where there was nothing but a dirty mattress. There, she was abused by strangers who entered one by one, the CPS said.
Prosecutors said one of the victims initially came forward to report her ordeals, and that the others were then approached by officers investigating the case.
Hussain, of Manchester Road, Bury, was convicted of seven counts of rape and seven counts of indecent assault. Ali, of Ainsworth Road, Radcliffe, Bury, was found guilty of five counts of rape, five counts of indecent assault and one count of attempted indecent assault.
After the guilty verdicts, Greater Manchester Police’s Sergeant Daniel Whittaker, who led the investigation, said: “This case represents a harrowing example of predatory behaviour by two men who deliberately targeted vulnerable children.
“The offenders were plying the victims with alcohol and drugs and taking them to numerous locations before sexually abusing and assaulting them.
“They exploited their positions of trust and manipulated the girls into believing they were in relationships, while in reality they were being used for sexual gratification.
“Hussain and Ali have faced long-awaited justice for their crimes after victims courageously gave testimony in court and continued to support our dedicated investigation.
“The bravery shown by the victims in coming forward and reliving their trauma has been instrumental in securing these convictions. We commend their courage and hope this outcome brings some measure of justice and closure.”
