Three twisted brothers responsible for a catalogue of sex offences have become the latest to be sentenced in a historic abuse investigation, now spanning 53 offenders and 620 years of jail time.
Amar, Kamran and Kamar Ilyas were sentenced on June 22, 2026 for a myriad of sex offences committed against five young girls.
In July 2025, 28 months after first being charged, Amar Ilyas is understood to have fled the country, travelling to Pakistan - and possibly beyond - allowing the cowardly sex offender to skip his trial and possibly avoid ever receiving any real punishment for his heinous crimes.
He was convicted of 20 historic sex offences - including 12 counts of rape - after a trial in his absence in September 2025, and concerns have been raised about why he was ever granted bail after being charged - leaving him free to flee the country.
Judge Peter Hampton sentenced Amar Ilyas to 27 years’ custody, with a one-year extended licence period, in his absence during the June 2026 hearing.
In March 2026, two of his brothers, Kamran Ilyas, aged 38, and 39-year-old Kamar Ilyas, both of Atlow Close, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, were found guilty of a catalogue of sex offences committed against one of Amar’s victims - Complainant One.
Judge Hampton handed Kamran and Kamar Ilyas prison sentences of three years and 10 years’ imprisonment, respectively.
The three Ilyas brothers were brought to justice as part of the National Crime Agency’s large-scale investigation into child sexual abuse and exploitation in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013.
Operation Stovewood is the single largest law enforcement investigation into non-familial child abuse in UK history.
It was launched in the wake of the Alexis Jay report, which was published in 2014 and described how at least 1,400 children in Rotherham had been subjected to grooming and abuse by gangs of men, predominately men of Pakistani heritage, of between 1997 and 2013.
Offenders went unprosecuted, despite police and child protection agencies having knowledge of the horrific crimes taking place for decades.
In 2014, the NCA was formally asked by the then Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police to lead an independent investigation into allegations of child sexual abuse in Rotherham.
It was set up by the NCA with the goals of supporting victims, pursuing offenders and rebuilding public confidence.
In August 2025, it was announced that the NCA would also lead in an investigation into child sexual abuse allegations made against former South Yorkshire Police officers, after concerns were raised about the force being trusted to investigate its own officers
Of the 53 people sentenced so far, 47 of them have received immediate jail terms, with sentences ranging between two and 25 years.
The combined total of the immediate jail terms passed down is 620 years, four months and two weeks.
This figure accounts for the total length of time an offender could be made to spend in custody, and does not account for concurrent sentences passed down, which do not materially affect an offender’s total sentence.
A total of 51 men have been convicted of sex offences as part of Operation Stovewood, while one man was convicted of drug offences, and a woman was convicted of offences under the Malicious Communications Act, after she broke anonymity laws to name complainants online.
Operation Stovewood has identified more than 1,150 potential victims of abuse, and in excess of 220 people have been arrested or attended a police station voluntarily.
The NCA announced Operation Stovewood would be moving to a new phase from January 1, 2024, after which time South Yorkshire Police would be responsible for any new allegations and investigations.
A number of active Stovewood investigations remain ongoing, some of which are making their way through the courts.
29. Nabeel Kurshid: Jailed for 19 years in November 2018
In October 2018, Nabeel Kurshid became one of six men convicted of multiple child offences, relating to the grooming and sexual exploitation of young girls in Rotherham and the surrounding areas. The 40-year-old received a 19-year sentence in 2018, after a jury at Sheffield Crown Court found him guilty of two counts of rape and one count of indecent assault. Kurshid, formerly of Weetwood Rd, Broom, Rotherham, was convicted alongside Mohammed Imran Ali, Akhtar, Asif Ali, Iqlaq Yousaf and Tanweer Ali, all friends from Rotherham, were found guilty alongside Salah Ahmed El-Hakam, Asif Ali. During the course of the 2018 trial, the court heard that the men befriended the girls, with some leading them to believe they were their boyfriends, before passing them around to be sexually abused by multiple offenders. The men would ply the girls with drugs and alcohol and threatened them with violence or being transported and abandoned in an unfamiliar location if they didn’t comply with the sexual demands. In victim impact statements, the girls told that the abuse was mainly carried out at night in a variety of secluded or derelict locations, including empty houses where there was no electricity. They were often sexually abused on mattresses on the floor and locked in rooms so that they couldn’t escape. One of the girls also recalled being driven to a remote spot by two of the men where one of them began to “grope” her. She explained that when she became distressed he said, “it’s better if you just get it over and done with and then you can go back home”. | Submit
30. Darren Hyett: Jailed for nine years in October 2018
In October 2018, 60-year-old Darren Hyett was sentenced to nine years in prison for sexual activity with a child. Hyett, formerly of Broom Chase, Rotherham was found guilty of three counts of sexual activity with a child following a 10 day trial at Sheffield Crown Court. Hyett was acquitted of four counts of rape, one count of perverting the course of justice and one count of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent. The jury could not reach a verdict on a further count of rape. The offences against a girl who was aged 15 when the abuse first started, took place between 2004 and 2007. The investigation proved Darren Hyett, who was aged 41 at the time, targeted and groomed the 15-year-old girl. He bought her gifts, gave her alcohol and cigarettes and regularly took her out in his taxi after collecting her from a children’s home. | Submit
31. Mohammed Imran Ali Akhtar: Grooming gang ringleader jailed for 23 years in October 2018
In October 2018, Mohammed Imran Ali Akhtar became one of six men convicted of multiple child offences, relating to the grooming and sexual exploitation of young girls in Rotherham and the surrounding areas. Following his conviction, South Yorkshire Police said Akhtar was the 'ringleader' of the grooming gang. The 42-year-old received a 23-year sentence in 2018, after a jury at Sheffield Crown Court found him guilty of a string of sex offences including rape; indecent assault; procuring a girl under 21 to have unlawful sexual intercourse with another; aiding and abetting rape and sexual assault. He is now facing more jail time after pleading guilty to two counts of rape and two counts of indecent assault during a Sheffield Crown Court hearing held on October 17, 2023. Akhtar, formerly of Godstone Rd, Rotherham, was convicted alongside Nabeel Kurshid, Iqlaq Yousaf and Tanweer Ali, all friends from Rotherham, were found guilty alongside Salah Ahmed El-Hakam, Asif Ali. During the course of the 2018 trial, the court heard that the men befriended the girls, with some leading them to believe they were their boyfriends, before passing them around to be sexually abused by multiple offenders. The men would ply the girls with drugs and alcohol and threatened them with violence or being transported and abandoned in an unfamiliar location if they didn’t comply with the sexual demands. In victim impact statements, the girls told that the abuse was mainly carried out at night in a variety of secluded or derelict locations, including empty houses where there was no electricity. They were often sexually abused on mattresses on the floor and locked in rooms so that they couldn’t escape. One of the girls also recalled being driven to a remote spot by two of the men where one of them began to “grope” her. She explained that when she became distressed he said, “it’s better if you just get it over and done with and then you can go back home”. | Submit
32. Khurram Javed: Jailed for two years in May 2018
A man found guilty of sexual assault against a girl in 2014 as part of the National Crime Agency’s Operation Stovewood has been jailed. Khurram Javed, then of Faraday Court, Rotherham was on trial for three counts of sexual assault and one count of rape against two girls – one who was 13 at the time – between 2008 and 2014. He was found not guilty of two counts of sexual assault and one count of rape, following a seven day trial at Sheffield Crown Court. On May 31, 2018, Javed, then 34, was sentenced to two years imprisonment. During sentencing the judge, HHJ Watson QC, described how Javed had groomed his victim and shown a significant degree of planning, identifying the victim who was in a vulnerable position at a vulnerable time of her life. He was 31 years old and the victim was 16 and it was "plain and obvious she was younger than Javed". | NCA