Two men were sentenced to lengthy prison terms after being found guilty of sexually abusing vulnerable teenage girls in Greater Manchester during the 1990s. Manzorr Hussain, 54, and Imtiaz Ali, 53, both originally from Pakistan and known to have operated market stalls in Bury near Manchester, were convicted at Minshull Street Crown Court earlier this year and received their sentences yesterday.

Hussain, from Bury, received a 30-year prison sentence after being convicted of seven counts of rape and seven counts of indecent assault involving five girls aged between 13 and 16. Ali, from Radcliffe, Greater Manchester, was sentenced to 28 years in prison following convictions on five counts of rape, five counts of indecent assault, and one count of attempted indecent assault related to the same group of victims.

The court heard that the men systematically groomed girls, often supplying them with drugs and alcohol before abusing them. The abuse extended beyond the initial assaults, with the women being passed on to other men, constituting what the judge described as a "campaign of rape."

During sentencing, one victim delivered a powerful impact statement from the witness box, expressing her anguish and condemning her abusers as "paedophiles, rapists and scum of the earth." Shielded from the defendants by screens, she also criticized agencies and individuals for either covering up or ignoring the abuse, declaring that those who did so were complicit in the crimes.

Judge Bernadette Baxter underscored the severity of the offenses, noting that the offenders’ actions represented a sustained and organised pattern of abuse. The judge reaffirmed the gravity of the crimes and the long-term impact on the victims when imposing the sentences.