Seaside grooming gang jailed for 87 years after using teen girls as ‘sexual playthings’.TA
The evil gang preyed on vulnerable girls aged as young as 14 who were drugged, handcuffed and raped.
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Rhyl grooming gang jailed (Image: -)
A depraved Asian grooming gang and a female accomplice who used teenage girls in a seaside town as “sexual commodities” have been jailed for a total of 87 years. Sex beasts Mustafa Iqbal, Mohamed Arshad, Ziaullah Badshah, and Jaswinder Singh trafficked their vulnerable victims, who were aged just 14,15 and 16, to be abused in cars, homes and businesses in the Welsh seaside resort of Rhyl and its surrounding areas.
They were convicted last month following a trial at Caernarfon Crown Court, with Iqbal, Arshad and Badshah have been 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.
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Mustafa Iqbal, 43, of Trellewelyn Road, Rhyl, was found guilty of four counts of rape Mustafa Iqbal, (Image: Daily Post Wales)
Ringleader of the gang Iqbal was jailed for 35 years after being convicted of 21 offences, including four rapes and three of sexual assault involving all three of the girls.
He had been arrested and investigated in 2022, but North Wales Police initially decided to take no action, prompting sentencing Judge Simon Mills to say the force should take some “reflection”.
He said: “There should be some reflection – hindsight is a wonderful thing – on the failure to take action.
“There should be some consideration as to whether any more could have been done to protect these children.
Arshad was jailed for 19 years, Badshah for 17 years whilst Singh and Gray were both jailed for eight years.
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Jaswinder Singh, 65, of River Street, Rhyl, was found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to traffic (Image: Daily Post Wales)
Their sentencings followed one of the most complex investigations carried out by North Wales Police into sexual exploitation, much of it in secret with the offenders unaware the case was being built against them, before officers pounced to arrest them during a series of co-ordinated police raids across Rhyl in August 2025.
The men had used the three girls – named only as Child A, B and C – as “sexual commodities” and “took full sexual advantage of Girl B in particular.”
Child A was treated as a “sexual plaything”, who was handcuffed and raped by Iqbal.
The three teenagers were all plied with 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.
The teens smoked cannabis with the paedophiles before playing a game of spin the bottle.
Iqbal, of 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.
The drug dealer also supplied Child A with crack cocaine and cannabis in return for sex.
He 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.
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Mohamed Usman Arshad, 36, of Clifton Grove, Rhyl, was found guilty of three counts of rape Mohamed U (Image: Daily Post Wales)
The full extent of the gangs activities was unmasked after Child B was taken to London by former builder Singh, 61, who claimed the girl was simply “looking after his dog”, insisting 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.
Investigators analysed hundreds of hours of CCTV footage, phone records and travel patterns to piece together the true picture of the abuse being carried out, then spent several weeks building victim’s trust before they slowly revealed the true horrors they had endured.
Badshah, who moved 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 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, and supplying cannabis to another.
Arshad, 36, of 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.
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53-year old Sarah Gray, of Llanasa Road, Gronant, was found guilty of perverting the course of justi (Image: Daily Post Wales)
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Ziaullah Badshah, 25, of Brighton Road, Rhyl, was found guilty of two counts of rape Ziaullah Badsha (Image: Daily Post Wales)
The court heard one of the counts of rape happened in an alleyway outside his former business, Zayn’s Coffee House.
Singh, of Rhyl, was found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to traffic and one count of supplying cannabis to another.
Gray, 53, of Gronant, was also found guilty of conspiracy to supply cocaine to another and conspiracy to supply cannabis to another.
Barnardo’s worked closely with North Wales Police to support the victims and
Sarah Crawley from the children’ charity , said: “These sentences are a result of the incredible bravery shown by the young survivors in this case. By coming forward and giving evidence, they helped expose the abuse they suffered and made sure those responsible were brought to justice.
“Their courage has not only secured these prison sentences but has also helped protect other children from harm.”
Louisa Robertson of the Crown Prosecution Service said: “The victims of these shocking crimes showed great courage in speaking out against their abusers, and it is through their strength that we have brought all the offenders charged to justice.”
Shocking moment migrant leaves child in the sea during horror Channel crossing
Shocking video footage showed a man carrying a child into the water, only to abandon the youngster
Migrant abandons child during Channel migrant crossing
This is the harrowing moment a migrant left an injured child and climbed onto a Channel dinghy as the stricken youngster was rescued.
Footage of the man carrying the terrified tot through the waves to a waiting taxi-boat emerged on the same day 781 people crossed. After a wave crashes into the small child near Berck, the migrant continues pushing towards the boat, which was already packed with asylum seekers.
A wave then carries the vessel into the pair, and the dazed child starts floating on top of the water. French lifeboat crews rushed through the water, lifting the shocked child onto a rescue paddleboard. But the man shockingly turns away and tries to climb onto the dinghy.
The bewildered child is then left sitting nearby, watching, as dozens of people flounder in the water, with others still trying to clamber onto the boat.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “This is a sickening and heartbreaking scene. A few weeks ago, I saw a similar embarkation myself, where the young male illegal immigrants pushed women and children off the boat.
“The needy are abandoned and young, often-violent men push their way to the front and enter the UK. Women have recently died during crossings on these boats in unexplained circumstances. This illegal immigration route must be completely ended.
“The French government is morally culpable for letting it happen on their beaches when they could easily stop it, as the Belgians have done. The charities supporting this wave of illegal immigration are equally guilty for what is happening, including for the deaths that have occurred.”
The man carries the child towards the dinghy (Image: NowherePhotographer)
The child, apparently unmoving, falls into the water (Image: NowherePhotographer)
Rescuers approach the child (Image: NowherePhotographer)
The child is taken away (Image: NowherePhotographer)
France’s Maritime Prefect for the Channel and the North Sea said the child had been taken into care after the incident on Monday afternoon.
The organisation said: “The gendarmerie and the fire service subsequently took charge of the child, and the prefecture’s land-based services then took over. The child was taken into care following a medical incident.”
The astonishing moment came as 781 people crossed the Channel – a record number for this year.
It will heap pressure on ministers as they desperately try to convince people the borders are secure.
Some 18,565 people have crossed the Channel this year, down 42% on the equivalent point last year.
New analysis has revealed the number of migrants to have crossed the Channel under Labour is greater than the number of full-time soldiers in the British Army.
Some 83,279 people have arrived in small boats, overtaking the 83,000 in the Army.
An average of 103 people per day have crossed the Channel in the 809 days since Labour won the keys to Downing Street.
Mr Philp said: “Labour has let an entire Army-sized population cross the Channel illegally.
“More people have arrived in small boats than we have soldiers defending Britain. That is completely bonkers. Labour has lost control of our borders and seems utterly incapable of getting it back.
“The Conservative plan is to end hotels and benefits for illegal immigrants and instead deport them.”
The dinghy packed with migrants (Image: NowherePhotographer)
But Labour’s Lucy Powell, the Education Secretary, sensationally claimed that Border Force cannot intercept every single migrant crossing.
The Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, launched an “urgent review” as officials confirmed at least 21 asylum seekers arrived in Samphire Hoe on Tuesday.
Others are feared to be on the run, with the Home Office carrying out a “thorough investigation”.
And at least five migrants were detected at The Warren, a rocky stretch of coast near Folkestone, on Monday. The crossings were the first unauthorised landings in a year
Zia Yusuf, Reform’s Home Affairs spokesman, said: “This is an abject surrender of our borders by Lucy Powell and Labour. Every migrant boat can and should be intercepted, but this government is too gutless to deploy the Royal Navy and protect the British public from this invasion of undocumented fighting-age men.”
Mr Yusuf added: “It’s abundantly clear that this government will not stop the invasion of unvetted fighting-age males into our country.
“Instead, they are incentivising them with lavish police motorcades to their taxpayer-funded hotels, all while the British public struggles to afford to live in our own country.
“Labour’s promise to smash the gangs is in complete tatters. Without withdrawing from the ECHR and deploying the Royal Navy, the boats will keep on coming, and Brits will continue being forced to foot the bill for these invaders.”
Ms Powell echoed that language on Thursday but suggested not all crossings could be prevented.
Asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme if the situation was embarrassing for the Government, she responded: “(You) can’t stop everything all of the time.
“Of course, it’s a concern. That’s why the Home Secretary has demanded and ordered this urgent review, because this is not what we want to see. This is not acceptable.
“But the overall picture is an improving picture. It is hard, difficult work that requires constant, constant effort by our border forces, our security services, police, our partnerships with France and other countries.
“This is a mammoth and huge task, which is now starting to reap some dividends. But of course, you know where there are still issues arising, we must absolutely tackle them.”
Pressed on Good Morning Britain whether she stood by her statement, Ms Powell said: “I think you’re just taking that completely out of context.
“We are clamping down on small boat crossings every single day… we are sucking the oxygen out of it, we are taking steps, and there are many, many steps.
“It’s not an easy thing to do to just turn on a switch, turn off a switch overnight. We have to constantly evolve.”
A Government spokesperson said: “Our progress this year in tackling small boats is indisputable – with crossings down by 42% and the lowest recorded over the summer months since 2020.
“But this week’s events show that while the peaks we are seeing are far below those of previous years, we need to push further and harder in order to eradicate this vile trade.”
