Ringleader of grooming gang jailed for further 12 years

The convicted ringleader of a Muslim grooming gang has been jailed for a further 12 years after another brave victim of historic sex crimes came forward.

Mubarek Ali, who called himself Max, raped and pimped the victim out over several years after 'charming and sweet talking' her when they first met when she was just 12.

Ali, now aged 40, was convicted of six counts involving rape, trafficking for sexual exploitation and sexual activity with a child.

His victim, now 32, only came forward after Ali had been sentenced along with six others, including his brother Ahdel, then 25, for sexual crimes against teenagers in the Shropshire town of Telford in 2012.

Some of the victims were trafficked around Britain.

On Monday she watched from the public gallery as he was brought from HMP Hewell to be sentenced for the historic sexual crimes.

His Honour Judge Peter Barrie sentenced Ali to 12 years in prison with an extended licence period of eight years.

He described the victim as a 'vulnerable girl' who had been through a difficult childhood and was 'desperate for a stable, loving relationship.'

The judge told Ali: 'You were eight years older. You seemed the sort of person who could provide stability and affection.

'She thought she was in love with you and could not see how abusive the relationship had become.'

Shrewsbury Crown Court heard that by the time the girl reached 14, Ali began plying her with alcohol and cannabis and the sexual abuse started.

Judge Barrie said: 'You expected her to have sex with you even though she was under the age of consent. It became normalized behaviour for her.'

Ali, who was in his 20s at the time, sexually abused her in hotels in Telford, at his mother's house in Wellington, Shropshire, and in broad daylight in front of a 'disgusted' dog walker in the town, as well as pimping her out to local restaurant workers – just as jurors heard had been the fate of victims in his earlier trial.

He admitted the raft of new offences part-way through his trial last month.

The court heard that as the girl matured she became less easy to manipulate and Ali resorted to violent verbal threats and abuse on multiple occasions.

Judge Barrie added: 'Not content with having a relationship that involved frequent sex for yourself, you took advantage of the hold you had over her to get her to have sex with other men.

'At restaurants people would queue up to have sex with her and you gave out her phone number so other men could make arrangements with her.'

He accused Ali of making money and gaining perverse sexual gratification from what he put her through.

'You coerced and humiliated her and caused her severe psychological harm.'

He noted that Ali, who was released in 2017 after serving two-thirds of his sentence before being returned to jail for breaching his licence regulations, had shown no remorse for his crimes or insight into the impact they had.

'There continues to be a high risk that you will cause harm to young, female children. I should continue to treat you as a dangerous offender.'

He sentenced Ali to six years for the trafficking and six years for the other offences to run consecutively, as well as imposing an eight year extended licence.

In 2018 a Sunday newspaper investigation suggested up to 1,000 girls could have been abused in Telford - a town of 170,000 residents - since 1980.