Bradford gang sentenced to combined 140 years over rape of vulnerable schoolgirl

Gang of 12 took 'terrible and heartless sexual advantage' of a 13-year-old girl

The gang were sentenced at Bradford Crown Court (Rex)

A gang of 12 men who sexually exploited a vulnerable schoolgirl in Bradford have been sentenced to a combined 140 years in prison.

A trial heard how the girl was repeatedly raped and abused by the men when she was 13 and 14 years old, in a series of encounters arranged by a violent drug dealer.

Eleven of the men were jailed for raping the girl in Keighley, West Yorkshire, during a hearing at Bradford Crown Court. A 12th man was sentenced for sexual activity with the same girl.

The court heard how the violent abuse began when the girl told a drug dealer she no longer wanted to deliver drugs for him. On one occasion, the girl was gang-raped by five of the defendants.

Judge Roger Thomas QC handed the men sentences of between three-and-a-half and 20 years, telling them they were being jailed "for offences against a young vulnerable child".

"She was only 13 or 14 when the 12 of you took such terrible and heartless sexual advantage of her," he said.

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