Telford brothers who sold teenagers for sex guilty

Two brothers have been found guilty of targeting schoolgirls for sex and selling two of them as prostitutes to restaurant workers across Telford.

Mubarek and Ahdel Ali variously sexually abused, raped, trafficked, prostituted or tried to prostitute four Telford teenagers.

One of victims was raped by Ahdel Ali when she was 13, and another teenage victim was sold as a prostitute by Mubarek Ali when she was four months pregnant.

The jury at Stafford Crown Court heard that one of the victims was regularly sold for sex to workers at restaurants in Telford and to associates of the two defendants.

Following the verdicts, Detective Chief Inspector Neil Jamieson, of West Mercia Police, said: "The verdicts were a culmination of a long and complex investigation into the sexual exploitation of young women.

"These two men targeted these girls because of their vulnerability and then systematically groomed them in such a way that eventually they could exploit them sexually for their own gain and gratification.

"This trial has been an ordeal for those giving evidence and I would like to pay tribute to the strength and character shown by all of the victims who gave evidence."

Ahdel Ali, 24, known as Eddie, was found guilty of 18 offences and cleared of one of inciting a girl to have sex with a man.

His brother Mubarek, 29, known as Max, was found guilty of seven charges including offences of trafficking in the UK for sexual exploitation. The brothers faced a total of 26 charges involving the sexual abuse and exploitation of the four victims who were aged between 13 to 16.

All the offences were committed between March, 2008 and December, 2009.

Judge Patrick Thomas QC will sentence the brothers, both of Regent Street, Wellington, in October in Worcester.

During a seven-week trial the young victims, who cannot be named, told the court how they were sexually abused or pimped out by the brothers.

The jury of 10 men and two women found Ahdel Ali guilty of raping a 13-year-old girl. He was also convicted of six charges of sexual activity with the same girl. And he was convicted of five offences involving two 15-year-old girls who he later pimped out with his brother.

Ahdel Ali was also found guilty of three charges of controlling child prostitution, one of inciting child prostitution and meeting a child after sexual grooming.

Mubarek Ali was convicted of two charges of trafficking within the UK for sexual exploitation. He was also found guilty of four charges of controlling child prostitution and an offence of causing child prostitution.

Both men denied all the charges.