Tuesday 3 September 2013

Social services receptionist handed personal file of child rape victim to her alleged abusers as part of campaign to de-rail trial of 'paedophile ring'

A social services worker accessed the records of a child raped in a drugs den as part of a wider conspiracy to collapse the trial of an alleged paedophile ring.
Mahdiya Khan, 21, a secretary for Lancashire County Council, printed off 'extremely sensitive' data on the girl and handed it to her boyfriend, who was a defendant in the case. 
A gang had been accused of systematically abusing the 14-year-old, and family and friends of the ringleader then offered her cash and showered her with gifts to persuade her to change her statement and say the sex was consensual.
The girl and her loved-ones were also threatened in a case that police said today was 'horrendous'.
The trial of the six men came to court last year but it collapsed after one day when the girl, now 16, refused to give evidence.
A retrial was then called in March, but this also ended abruptly when the alleged victim said that the sex had been consensual.
Only one one man, Mohammed Imran Amjad, 26, was convicted as he had admitted three counts of child abduction and one of sexual activity with a child.
Amjad bore the 'greatest responsibility for the corruption and abuse of the victim in this case'.
Prosecutor Alaric Bassano told Burnley Crown Court last year: 'It was him who took her on many occasions to the house and him who assisted, encouraged and incited others to rape and sexually assault this girl.
 

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'On one occasion, he raped the girl himself. Over a period of time he subdued her will and coerced her into submission.
'The girl was groomed over a period of time and on many occasions she was taken to a house in Brierfield (near Burnley).
'That house was used as a den at which young men attended and brought or invited girls and young women in order to drink alcohol, take drugs and engage in sex'.
After he admitted the sex crimes, Amjad was jailed for four years and three months. 
But his case has since sparked four more convictions of people, including his partner, cousin and brother, who had tried to impede justice.
Three of the defendants are seen leaving Burnley Crown Court yesterday
Collapse: Three of the defendants are seen leaving Burnley Crown Court last year after the first trial was ended abruptly when the alleged victim refused to give evidence - five out of six were acquitted
As well as the crimes of Mahdiya Khan, Amjad's cousin Waqas Khalid, 19, followed the child sex victim, and told her that she and her mother would be raped and their house 'blown up', according to The Times.
It came from an investigation by the paper's Chief Investigative Reporter Andrew Norfolk.
Amjad's friend Qasim Hussain, 20, dictated a note for the girl which said: 'I didn't have sex with any of the boys who's in court next month. I didn't get raped' as part of a campaign to get her to change her evidence.
Amjad's brother Furqan Amjad, 23,  bombarded the girl with hundreds phone calls and text messages in a fortnight, and even paid for her mobile phone credit as part of a 'charm offensive' before the case went to court.
In one message he urged her 'have some courage' and she then refused to give evidence.
Controversial: A second trial at Manchester Crown Court later collapsed when the girl changed her statement, but Mohammed Imran AmJad had pleaded guilty
Controversial: A second trial at Manchester Crown Court later collapsed when the girl changed her statement, but Mohammed Imran AmJad had pleaded guilty
All have now been convicted of their part in the conspiracy, the Crown Prosecution Service told MailOnline.
Miss Khan was jailed for eight months last year after pleading guilty to five counts of unauthorised access to computer material. She was also sacked by Lancashire County Council.
Waqas Khalid admitted one count of witness intimidation and was fined £300, ordered to pay costs of £250, and £200 compensation to the victim.
Furqan Amjad got 15 months in prison for perverting the course of justice and Qasim Hussain was found guilty of perverting the course of Justice and has been told he should expect a 'lengthy' jail term when he is sentenced this week. 
Lancashire Detective Chief Inspector Sion Hall, from Lancashire Constabulary, told MailOnline: 'This was a horrendous case where a vulnerable girl was threatened and manipulated after being put through significant sexual abuse.
'It is difficult to bring cases to court especially when individuals work to undermine the process. The witness was got at by a group who tried everything to persuade her not to give evidence 
'Sadly attempts to collapse a trial in this way are not unique'.

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