Rhyl grooming gang guilty of exploiting teenage girls for sex

Four men and a woman have been found guilty of being part of a grooming gang that exploited teenage girls for sex.

Mustafa 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.

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