Monday, December 01, 2014
THE final offenders caught by Operation Brooke have been jailed, bringing their prison sentences to more than 100 years. In all, 13 Somali men have been jailed for committing 31 sex crimes against seven vulnerable girls in Bristol. The victims were aged between 13 and 17 when they were preyed upon and used by the men as sexual objects.
Sentencing the final seven defendants at Bristol Crown Court, Judge Lambert said: "You have brought deep shame on your families, along with all the damage you have done to your victims and their families. You were all brought up to know what proper standards of behaviour are."
All of the men will be on the Sex Offenders' Register, some for life and some for 10 years.
In December 2012, Target and Starns both raped the same 13-year-old girl at the Premier Inn hotel on St James Barton roundabout after organising what the judge described as a "sex party".
Starns booked the room and Target brought the girl, who had already been raped at a flat in Barton Hill that night.
Judge Lambert described Target and Starns as "merciless".
To Target, he said: "The repeated humiliation of a small, 13-year-old girl was completed in a rough, callous and very nasty manner."
Condemning what Starns did, Judge Lambert said: "You behaved without humanity and with no pity whatsoever. You took what you wanted and you left her openly humiliated."
During the second, eight-week trial, it emerged that Deeq effectively had a relationship with the girl.
She became infatuated with him and ended up consenting to horrific acts, which, due to her age, she could not consent to in the eyes of the law.
Deeq told lies about his "tradition" and "culture" to persuade her to have sex with his younger brother Omar and two other men under a bridge near B&Q off Muller Road.
Judge Lambert told Deeq: "You preyed on her affection for you in a highly cynical and calculated way."
All of the defendants were of previous good character before these offences, other than Kamal who committed a sexual offence when he was 14.
Target was jailed for five years after the first Operation Brooke trial, for being concerned in the supply of cocaine and heroin, but his new 11-year sentence will effectively replace that.
Mitigating for Starns, Anna Midgley said: "He was barely more than a child at the time this offence was committed, at 18 years old."
A jury took eight days to find the defendants guilty of the charges they were sentenced for.
The offenders did not operate as a gang in the traditional sense, but knew each other in smaller groups.
In June, more than 70 years' of prison sentences were imposed by Judge Michael Roach on the other six offenders.
As well as sexual exploitation, they had also used a 16-year-old victim's flat off Stapleton Road, Easton, from which to cut and deal cocaine and heroin.
Speaking after Friday's sentencing, DI Gary Stephens said: "We are very happy with the sentences, but our thoughts are with the victims. Hopefully, with the ongoing support they are receiving from ourselves and other agencies, they will be able to move forward in their lives."
Kayse Maxamed, ambassador for Somali language group LARGE, said: "The whole community is shocked by what has happened. We condemn these criminals. They are not representative of the Somali community."