The 17 child abusers pictured here have been jailed for a combined total of 236 years, after being convicted as part of probe into historic abuse in Rotherham.
As a child rapist already serving time admitted this week to committing more sex offences, here we share the details of every man convicted as part of Operation Stovewood so far.
Operation Stovewood 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 between 1997 and 2013. It also outlined how police and social workers had failed to step in.
It is a National Crime Agency operation, and is the single largest law enforcement investigation into non-familial child sexual abuse in the UK.
Over 200 arrests have been made since the operation was launched.
42-year-old Mohammed Imran Ali Akhtar has spent the last five years behind bars, after receiving a 23-year sentence in 2018 when 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.
Akhtar 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 Tuesday, October 17, 2023.
The offences took place between 2001 and 2003, and involved a victim who was as young as 13-years-old. Akhtar is set to be sentenced at the same court on December 18. His guilty pleas mark the latest Operation Stovewood conviction, and here we look back at all of the 17 prison terms passed down so far.
Sentences of four years or more are never spent, and in the case of Operation Stovewood, the shortest sentence passed out is four years, while the largest sentence is 25 years.
*If you are concerned about a child and believe they are being exploited, please report it to South Yorkshire Police so they can help.
You can get in touch with them by calling 101, or going online and using the force's chat function or online portal at: https://smartcontact.southyorkshire.police.uk/
Call 999 if they are in immediate danger.
It is a National Crime Agency operation, and is the single largest law enforcement investigation into non-familial child sexual abuse in the UK.
9. Asif Ali: 10 years' jail time for grooming gang member
In October 2018, Asif Ali 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 38-year-old received a 10-year sentence in 2018, after a jury at Sheffield Crown Court found him guilty of a string of two counts of indecent assault. Ali, formerly of HMP Rye Hill, was convicted alongside Mohammed Imran Ali, Akhtar, 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”.
10. Nabeel Kurshid: Child rapist jailed for 19 years
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”.
11. Iqlak Yousaf: Grooming gang member jailed for 20 years
In October 2018, Iqlak Yousaf 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 39-year-old received a 20-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. Yousaf, formerly of Tooker Rd, Moorgate, Rotherham, was convicted alongside Mohammed Imran Ali Akhtar, 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”.
12. Tanweer Hussain Ali: 14 years' behind bars for child sex offender
In October 2018, Tanweer Hussain Ali 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 39-year-old received a 14-year sentence in 2018, after a jury at Sheffield Crown Court found him guilty of two counts of rape, two counts of indecent assault and one count of false imprisonment. Yousaf, formerly of Godstone Rd, Moorgate, Rotherham, was convicted alongside Mohammed Imran Ali Akhtar, Nabeel Kurshid 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”.