Three men jailed for 13-year-old girl's sex slave ordeal

Three men who abducted a vulnerable 13-year-old girl from the streets of London and forced her to become their sex slave have been jailed.

The girl, who was described as being from a broken and troubled family, was subjected to sexual abuse over four days after being persuaded to travel with the men to Ipswich in Suffolk in July last year.

Mohammed Sheikh, Hamza Ali and Suran Uddin were all convicted of trafficking and sex offences following a trial earlier this year.

Today at Norwich Crown Court, Judge Nicholas Coleman said the girl had been left traumatised by the ordeal.

"Instead of helping this girl find refuge, you were all intent on sexually exploiting her for your own ends," he added.

"She was taken to a town she'd never visited, a house she had never been to, in the company of men she had never met.

"All three of you treated her like a piece of meat and passed her about.

"This happened over four days until she was finally rescued by police."

Uddin was jailed for 15 years, Sheikh will serve eight years and Ali five years.

All three were placed on the sex offenders register and Sheikh and Ali could face deportation to Somalia, their home country.

Jurors heard how the men took advantage of the girl's "youth and naivety" to persuade her to get into a van, driven by Uddin.

They took her to a house in Chevallier Street, Ipswich.

Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones said: "They plied her with drugs and alcohol and made promises that they would take care of her and give her anything she wanted.

"She was treated as little more than a skivvy and she was raped over the course of four days."

Maria Denine, mitigating for Sheikh said the defendants had not been aware of her background or how vulnerable she was.

Mitigating for Uddin, Scott Ivill said his client was married with two children, aged eight and one, and any custodial sentence would cause his family to suffer.

Lindsay Cox, for Ali, said his client was also a married man.

He added: "This girl looked appreciably older than her age and she had a history of engaging with strangers."

Uddin, 26, of St Matthew's Row, Bethnal Green, London; Sheikh, 32, of Seaton Point in Hackney, London; and Ali, 39, of Chilford Road, Waltham Forest, London, were all found guilty of conspiracy to traffic in the UK.

Uddin was also convicted of two counts of rape and supplying a class B drug to the victim.

Sheikh was convicted of causing a child to engage in sexual activity and supplying a class B drug.

Ali was found guilty of a sexual assault.

A fourth defendant, Abdul Hammed, 46, of Wellington Street, Ipswich, was cleared of supplying a class B drug, two counts of rape and trafficking.

PA