Two brothers from Bury have been jailed for over 10 years after being found guilty of a total of eight child sex offences against two teenage girls.
Muhammad and Hashim Hussain, aged 20 and 24 respectively, were sentenced today at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court after being unanimously convicted by a jury of sex offences between August 2016 and August 2017.
The court heard how the brothers, both of South Cross Street, groomed the victims, aged 14 and 15 at the start of the offending, by offering them alcohol and buying them gifts in exchange for sexual acts.
Muhammad was found guilty of twice raping one of the girls in August 2016 as well as one count of taking an indecent image of the same victim later that year in December, and sexual assaulting another girl in August 2017.
He has been sentenced to six years and two months in a youth offender’s prison and has to sign the sex offenders’ register for life. He has also had a restraining order imposed on him in relation to both victims.
His brother, Hashim , was also convicted after the four-week trial of two counts of taking an indecent image of a child, and two counts of possessing an indecent image of a child, all in 2017. He has been jailed for four years.
The three-year long investigation, led by GMP Bury’s Complex Safeguarding hub alongside Bury council, saw detectives meticulously work through a vast amount of evidential lines of enquiry, as well as offering victims ongoing support throughout the investigation with support from specialist partner agencies.
Reacting after the conviction, both victims joined police in urging others experiencing abuse or exploitation to speak out.
Victim one said: “It’s such a sigh of relief that they’re now behind bars – I actually did get my justice and I know it was a long process but it was so worth it. They (the brothers) always thought they were unbeatable and now they have been beat and I’m so happy with that, honestly it gives me so much joy.
“I know it’s hard and I know it’s scary and I know it’s a long process but speak up because it’ll be the best thing you ever do. Honestly, even if you just talk about it that gives you so much relief getting it off your shoulders and not keeping it to yourself.
“Even if you don’t want to take it to court, talking about it is so much of a relief it will honestly change your mental state and make you feel so much happier. Especially when you’ve not wanted to speak out it and then when you do talk about it and are believed it’s the best feeling in the world.”
Victim two added: “They preyed on vulnerability; I think they specifically picked on me and my friend because we were vulnerable and we didn’t appear to be the most strong-minded – we seemed like the type of people that you could pick on and I feel like that’s why they chose us.
“They can’t continue to abuse people and get no consequences for it and I feel like they’ve made an example of themselves to anybody who was grooming because people are becoming more and more socially aware of the signs and know if it’s happening to them.
“It sets an example to people who are grooming that you are not going to just live in the shadows, one day you will be prosecuted. Whether it’s today or tomorrow, there will be someone knocking on your door asking why you assaulted children.”
Detective Inspector Ian Partington, Senior Investigating Officer, said: “This has been an immensely thorough investigation in order to bring Muhammad and Hashim Hussain to account for their despicable and sickening crimes, and it is a great relief that they are now to spend time behind bars.
“Our investigation team have worked tirelessly to secure today’s outcomes, but this would not have been possible had it not been for the courage and resilience of the victims to speak to police and pursue with the trial and to relive that abuse. Everyone in the team pays tribute to their unwavering bravery.
“I know that they believe the journey of the last three years in getting this case successfully through the courts has been worth it, and I join them in hoping that anyone else out there who’s a victim of abuse – whether it’s in Bury, Greater Manchester, or elsewhere in the country – to come forward and speak to police knowing that information will be treat with the strictest confidence.
“If there are other victims out there who now feel the time is right to come forward, then we are ready and determined to get justice for you, too.
