Telford grooming gang victim says she's 'happy and sad' to see her abusers behind bars

THE victim of a Telford grooming gang has said she is both happy and sad to see her abusers behind bars.

A court heard that the gang forced the victim to perform sexual acts in a churchyard and violently abused her when she resisted their advances.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told The Sunday Mirror: "I just sobbed. I was relieved, happy and sad, all at the same time."

Last week, four men were jailed for more than 22 years for abusing the girl, who was just 12 at the time. The abuses happened between 2000 and 2003 and lasted until the girl was in her mid-teens.

Mohammed Ali Sultan, 33, formerly of Telford, was convicted of rape and three counts of indecent assault at Birmingham Crown Court.

Mohammad Rizwan, 37, of Telford, was found guilty of two counts of indecent assault and caged for five-and-a-half years.

Shafiq Younas, 35 of Wellington, Shrops., was convicted of indecent assault and was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison.

Amjad Hussain, 38, of Telford, who was found guilty of a single count of indecent assault but cleared of a similar offence, was jailed for four-and-a-half years.

A fifth defendant, Nazam Akhtar, 35, of Wellington, was cleared of rape.

The victim, who is now an adult, said: "My case proves you can get justice, after all these years. You've already survived so much and you're stronger than you think. I'd like to thank everybody who supported me through this process.

"I'm not going to pretend it was easy. But I did it to make the streets safer for my own children. There hasn't been a day where I haven't thought about what happened to me. I hope I can now have some peace in my life and move on."