Prosecutor Owen Edwards KC told Caernarfon Crown Court that three teenage girls were used as 'sexual commodities' by a grooming gang in Rhyl, Wales. Four men — Mustafa Iqbal, Ziaullah Badsha, Mohamed Arshad, and Jaswinder Singh — face 28 charges including trafficking for sexual exploitation, rape, supplying drugs, and sexual assaults, according to multiple media reports. The men deny all charges. The court heard that an 'Asian grooming gang' exploited, trafficked, and raped girls in Rhyl over two years.
According to prosecutor Owen Edwards KC, two girls aged 14 and 15 were walking late at night in Rhyl after smoking drugs and were spotted by Iqbal on an e-scooter. The court heard that the girls were given alcohol and cannabis before being sexually assaulted at Iqbal's home. Multiple media reports state that Singh allegedly arranged to take one of the girls to London. According to The Mail, Iqbal treated a third teenager, a 16-year-old crack cocaine addict, as a 'sex slave'. Sarah Gray, 53, is charged with conspiracy to supply cocaine and cannabis, allowing her house to be used for sexual exploitation, and perverting justice by cleaning bedding after a rape, according to multiple media reports. Iqbal is also accused of breaching a slavery trafficking risk order, according to multiple media reports.
In Sweden, a trial started against five young men suspected of involvement in rapes of four girls, according to multiple media reports. Attentive staff at a treatment home in Blekinge led police to the suspects, according to multiple media reports. Two girls were allegedly raped at a treatment home in Kristianstads kommun in September 2023, according to multiple media reports. The prosecutor said that four men in their 20s are accused of systematically raping children at treatment homes in exchange for drugs. Multiple media reports indicate that videos of the rapes were spread on social media. The prosecutor stated that in September 2023, three girls were repeatedly raped and gang-raped at or near treatment homes in Blekinge and northeastern Skåne. According to multiple media reports, five men are indicted in Sweden for spreading rape videos via a secret chat.
Baroness Casey of Blackstock defined group-based child sexual exploitation as involving multiple sexual assaults committed against children by multiple men on multiple occasions, including beatings and gang rapes. She noted that victims often face long-term physical and mental health impacts, and may have criminal convictions for actions taken under coercion.
Historical failures in UK grooming gang cases have been documented. Research from four sources indicates that in 2001, names of taxi drivers who allegedly picked up girls from care homes in Rotherham to abuse them were passed to police and council, but first convictions were not until 2010. A Channel 4 documentary about grooming in Bradford was delayed in 2004 due to police warnings it could inflame racial tensions, according to research from four sources. In 2010, 11 men, predominantly of Asian background, were convicted of child sexual exploitation offences in Derbyshire, according to research from four sources. Times journalist Andrew Norfolk started receiving tip-offs about child sexual exploitation by predominantly Asian men in Rotherham in 2011, according to research from four sources. In 2011, a girl abused by a grooming gang in Huddersfield wrote a letter to a judge, and formal allegations were made in 2013, according to research from four sources. Operation Bullfinch was launched in Oxford in 2011, with first convictions in 2013, according to research from four sources. In May 2012, nine men from Rochdale and Oldham were found guilty of child sexual exploitation, and five more were jailed the following year, according to research from four sources. In May 2013, seven men were jailed for child sex abuse in Telford, according to research from four sources.
In Sydney, police charged all five teenagers arrested over a gang rape of a 17-year-old girl, filmed on a mobile phone. Police said the alleged sex attack was recorded on a mobile phone video camera, and copies are circulating among school students. Police warn that anyone caught sending the footage faces up to three years' jail. Research from four sources indicates that three of the boys, aged 17, were remanded in custody after facing children's courts. According to www.smh.com.au, the grandfather of one accused questioned whether the incident was rape, saying the victim later agreed to go with them.
In Munich, five men were arrested for allegedly raping a 26-year-old woman in her own home and then stealing from her, according to the Munich prosecutor's office. Police are still searching for a sixth man accused of receiving stolen goods, according to the Munich prosecutor's office. A prosecution spokeswoman said the woman went to police immediately after the gang rape in April, but it took months to track suspects down. Judith Henkel stated that the men grew up in Munich and are not refugees. Henkel also said that all arrested men are 19 years old, and it must be decided whether they go through juvenile or adult court.
Several unknowns remain in these cases. The exact number of victims in the Swedish case and the timeframe of the alleged crimes have not been confirmed. The current status of the UK public inquiry into grooming gangs announced by Starmer is unclear. It is not known whether the Swedish and UK cases are connected in any way, such as through similar methods or networks. The specific evidence that led to the arrests in the Munich gang rape case has not been disclosed. The outcome of the Sydney gang rape case, including trial dates or convictions, is still pending.