Rochdale Grooming Gang Ringleader Dubbed ‘Bossman’ Jailed For 35 Years

We often hear that the government isn’t doing enough about the Rochdale grooming gangs, so here’s some good news in that regard: a man considered a ringleader of an infamous grooming gang from the area has been jailed for 35 years.

Mohammed Zahid, 65, AKA ‘Bossman’, thought he was ‘untouchable’ as he routinely raped two white schoolgirls in Rochdale.

Zahid gave free underwear from his lingerie stall at Rochdale Indoor Market to both teenagers, with money, alcohol and food, in return for regular sex with him and his friends.

Father-of-three Zahid and his crew treated the girls as ‘sex slaves’ from the ages of 13, and expected sex ‘whenever and wherever’ they wanted; in grimy flats, in cars, car parks, alleyways and empty warehouses.

Girl A told Manchester Minshull Street Court she could have been targeted by over 200 offenders as her phone number was passed around town and said ‘there was that many it was hard to keep count’.

Girl B said she was living in a children’s home when she was preyed on by Zahid and fellow market traders Mushtaq Ahmed, 67, and Kasir Bashir, 50, who were all born in Pakistan.

She said she presumed various agencies knew about the abuse as police regularly picked her up after social workers labelled her a ‘prostitute’ from the age of 10.

Zahid, of Station Road, Crumpsall, would literally visit the care home to pick her up and then drop her back off again when he was done, the court heard.

He and another seven men were convicted of raping Girl A and Girl B, who did not know each other, on multiple occasions throughout 2001 – 2006. Zahid was also found guilty of offences of indecency with a child and procuring a child to have sex.

It’s not his first rodeo either: in 2016, Zahid was jailed for five years after he was convicted of engaging in sexual activity with a 14-year-old girl whom he met when she visited his stall to buy tights for school.

The rest of the gang received sentences ranging from 12 years to 29 years, but it’s ringleader Zahid who ended up with the longest sentence of 35 years, pretty much guaranteeing he’ll die behind bars.

Although it may feel like justice has finally been done, it’s an absolute shocker that it took so long to get to this point, and it’s heartbreaking to think of how these girls were failed by their parents, families, social services, police, government and society in general.

Sentencing, Judge Jonathan Seely said: ‘Both girls were highly vulnerable, both had deeply troubled backgrounds and were known to the authorities. They were highly susceptible to the advances of these men and others, and both were sexually abused by numerous other men.

‘They were passed around for sex – abused, humiliated, degraded and then discarded.

‘Both were seriously let down by those whose job it was to protect them.’

Following sentence, Liz Fell, specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service’s organised child sexual abuse unit, said: ‘I would like to take this opportunity to thank both victims who have shown an enormous amount of strength and dignity throughout what has been a lengthy and challenging legal process.

‘Their determination to see justice done has been fundamental to securing these convictions.

‘None of the defendants have shown the slightest remorse for what they have put the survivors through. By maintaining their denials and refusing to accept responsibility, they forced these brave women to relive the abuse they suffered at their hands through a five-month trial.’

Here’s hoping lessons have been learned for the future.

For the British gym boss who faked his death to flee to Spain after sexually assaulting women he met on Tinder, click HERE.