Somali gang given 40 years for girl sexploitation

By CLAIRE HAYHURST AND ROD MINCHIN
Published 29th Nov 2014, 00:00 BST
Each of the seven men. Picture: SWNSEach of the seven men. Picture: SWNS
Each of the seven men. Picture: SWNS
SEVEN Somali men who were part of an inner-city sex ring involving the abuse, rape and prostituting of British girls have been jailed for more than 40 years.

Victims aged 13 to 17 were preyed upon, sexually abused and trafficked across Bristol to be passed around the men’s friends for money.

Many of the girls were groomed to view the abuse as a normal part of being the “girlfriend” of a Somali man, as it was said to be “culture and tradition” to be raped by their “boyfriend’s” friends.

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One defendant, aspiring boxer Mohamed Jumale, 24, forced a victim to be raped by his brother, Omar Jumale, 20, to save him from hell as he ­“wanted to turn gay”.

On another occasion, the 13-year-old girl was raped four times by three different men, having been trafficked across Bristol to a Premier Inn by Said Zakaria, 22.

Police investigating the case rescued one 14-year-old victim dressed only in her underwear from a cupboard in a flat, where she was found weeping “they made me do stuff”.

The case, now the subject of serious case reviews, follows similar exploitation of young girls in English towns and cities such as Rotherham, Rochdale, Oxford and Telford.

Two trials took place at Bristol Crown Court following an investigation, codenamed Operation Brooke, with 14 men convicted of child exploitation or drugs offences involving ten victims.

Eight were jailed for a total of more than 70 years in June, while the remaining seven defendants – including one who featured in both trials – were sentenced yesterday.

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