Two police operations led to jailing of 17 men for abusing girls

EIGHT men were jailed for a total of 42 years last year for plying under-age teenage girls with alcohol, drugs and gifts before paying them for sex.

The men, who acted individually and did not know each other, received sentences ranging from four to seven years after preying on a total of six girls in Normanton and Pear Tree.

Det Con James Bolus, Det Supt Debbie Platt, Det Sgt Steve Clought and Det Con Adrian Brambley, who worked on the Operation Retriever case.

The prosecutions were the result of a police investigation, dubbed Operation Kern, which was launched after residents and local officers in Pear Tree became concerned at seeing the same girls regularly hanging around the streets at night. The girls, who were 15, were believed to have been part of a bigger group of youngsters being picked up from the streets for sex in 2009 and 2010.

Sentencing the men, the judge said he was not dealing with a team of predators and there were no allegations that they forced themselves on the girls but they had taken advantage of the vulnerable girls to "satisfy their middle-aged desires" to have sex with them and had paid them "paltry sums" of money.

Business Cards From Only £10.95 Delivered www.myprint-247.co.uk

myprint-247

View details

Print voucher

Our heavyweight cards have FREE UV silk coating, FREE next day delivery & VAT included. Choose from 1000's of pre-designed templates or upload your own artwork. Orders dispatched within 24hrs.

Terms: Visit our site for more products: Business Cards, Compliment Slips, Letterheads, Leaflets, Postcards, Posters & much more. All items are free next day delivery. www.myprint-247.co.uk

Contact: 01858 468192

Valid until: Friday, May 31 2013

Three years ago, a gang of nine men were jailed for between 18 months and 22 years for grooming vulnerable girls, some as young as 12.

At least 27 girls – one of whom was living with foster carers in Derby and two others in city children's homes – fell prey to the gang, who raped and assaulted them over two years.

Many of the girls were helped to give evidence by Safe and Sound.

The victims were targeted outside school gates and in the streets using the promise of drink and drugs to lure them in.

The case was the culmination of a covert investigation, dubbed Operation Retriever, involving up to 100 police officers.

The ringleaders – Abid Mohammed Saddique, 27, of Northumberland Street, Normanton and Mohammed Romaan Liaqat, 28, of Briar Lea Close, Sinfin – were jailed indefinitely.

A judge said Saddique's aim was to have sex "at any price".