Child sex trafficker in court after Swiss arrest
A convicted child sex trafficker has appeared in court following his arrest in Switzerland.
Sharam Muhamadi helped Bawan Harwe contact girls as young as 12 on social media platform Snapchat, before they were groomed, abused and raped by Harwe, a trial at Sheffield Crown Court earlier this year heard.
Muhamadi, 21, stopped attending the trial in June before being found guilty in his absence of two counts of arranging or facilitating travel of another person with a view of exploitation, and a warrant for his arrest was issued.
Following his extradition from Switzerland, he was brought before the same court on Wednesday, where he was remanded in custody until his next hearing on 3 September.
The court had previously heard that Muhamadi and Harwe both worked in convenience stores in Doncaster and lived in a flat in Hexthorpe.
They used fake names to message the girls, who were aged between 12 and 16, and offered them drugs, e-cigarettes, money and taxi journeys to entice them to meet in person.
Six of the seven girls were given alcohol and drugs before being raped by Harwe, the trial heard.
At Sheffield Crown Court in June, Iraqi national Harwe, 28, was sentenced to 29 years imprisonment.
Muhamadi, who is from Iran, stopped attending the trial part-way through and was convicted in his absence.
He had been remanded in custody between being charged and the beginning of the trial, South Yorkshire Police said at the time, but his defence team's application for bail was then granted by the court. Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid!
The court previously heard Muhamadi was taken into the care of social services in Bradford after entering the UK as an unaccompanied asylum seeker.
He had made a claim for asylum in 2021 at the age of 16 and was granted leave to remain in the UK in 2022, to be reviewed in 2027.
Following the men's trial, Border Security Minister Alex Norris described their offending as "nothing short of "monstrous".
"Sex offenders will be denied refugee protections, and we will seek to deport them as soon as possible," Norris said.
(Clockwise from top left) Mohamed Arshad, Ziaullah Badshah, Mustafa Iqbal, Sarah Gray, and Jaswinder Singh were found guilty of their roles in exploiting three girlsMustafa Iqbal, Mohamed Arshad, Ziaullah Badshah, Jaswinder Singh were convicted of conspiracy to traffic their victims, who were aged 14, 15 and 16.
At Caernarfon Crown Court on Monday, Iqbal, Arshad and Badshah were also found guilty of rape while another member of the gang, Sarah Gray, was found guilty of perverting the course of justice and assisting an offender.
The men were remanded in custody ahead of sentencing on 25 September, while Gray was released on bail.
Prosecutor Owen Edwards KC said the men had used the three girls - named only as Child A, B and C - like "sexual commodities".
"They took full sexual advantage of Girl B in particular," he said.
The jury was told Child A had been treated as a "sexual plaything", who finally had gone to the police after having been handcuffed by Iqbal and had been raped.
The court heard the teenagers were given drugs and sexually abused in cars, homes and businesses in Rhyl, Denbighshire and the surrounding area between April 2022 and March 2024.
The first two victims, Child B who was 15 and Child C who was 14, were approached by Iqbal, 43, near a petrol station in the town, and he persuaded them to come back to his home.
They were later joined by local coffee shop owner Arshad, 36, and his friend Badshah, 25.
During the trial the jury had been told how the two girls stated they were 17, had smoked cannabis with the men and had played a game of spin the bottle.
Badshah, who came to Rhyl as a refugee from Pakistan when he was 15, admitted kissing Child B and Child C, and on later occasions having sex with Child B at his home.
Badshah, of Brighton Road, Rhyl, was found guilty of two counts of rape, two counts of conspiracy to traffic, two counts of conspiracy to require a person to perform compulsory labour, supplying cannabis to another.
Arshad, 36, of Clifton Grove, Rhyl, was found guilty of three counts of rape, two counts of conspiracy to traffic, two counts of conspiracy to require a person to perform compulsory labour, and supplying cannabis to another.
The court heard one of the counts of rape happened in an alleyway outside his former business, Zayn's Coffee House.
Iqbal, of Trellewelyn Road, Rhyl, was found guilty of raping Child B and also sexually assaulting Child C. He was also found guilty of raping another teenager, Child A, who was 16 and lived in a care home.
Described as a drug dealer during the trial, he supplied Child A with crack cocaine and cannabis in return for sex.
Iqbal was convicted of 21 offences, including four of rape and three of sexual assault. He was also found guilty of conspiracy to traffic and conspiracy to supply cannabis and cocaine, breaching a trafficking risk order, and he pleaded guilty to possessing a prohibited weapon.
The gang was unmasked after another friend of the men took Child B to London.
Former builder Singh, 61, claimed the girl was looking after his dog and there was no sexual motive in taking her on the trip to see his family in the capital, but a concerned adult was alarmed by Singh's intentions and reported him to the police.
Singh, of River Street, Rhyl, was found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to traffic and one count of supplying cannabis to another.
Gray, 53, of Llanasa Road, Gronant, was also found guilty of conspiracy to supply cocaine to another and conspiracy to supply cannabis to another.
After the guilty verdicts Det Ch Insp Richard Sidney said his thoughts were the three young victims.
"They were children, aged just 14 to 16, when they were subjected to exploitation and abuse by adults who took advantage of their vulnerabilities and sought to manipulate and control them for their own gain," he said.
"No child should have to experience what these young women endured."
He said that the five defendants had denied almost every allegation against them from the outset.
"I hope today's outcome sends a clear message that those who seek to groom and exploit vulnerable children will be relentlessly pursued," he said.
A spokesperson for Denbighshire council said its thoughts were with the young women at the centre of the case, adding that it wanted to "recognise the courage and bravery they have shown".
The spokesperson said the council would work with the North Wales Safeguarding Board on a review, separate to the criminal process, that would "examine agencies' involvement with the young people and to identify what lessons can be learnt for the future".
"We understand that this case has been challenging and has brought up strong feelings. We ask that everyone respects the legal process and each other as we process this outcome," they added.
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