On October 1, 2025, the town of Rochdale in northern England once again found itself at the center of a national reckoning as seven men were sentenced to a collective 174 years in prison for a harrowing campaign of sexual abuse and exploitation that spanned half a decade. The case, which has stirred both outrage and renewed calls for reform, centers on the actions of Mohammed Zahid—known locally as “Boss Man”—and his associates, whose crimes against two vulnerable girls have reignited debate over how such abuse could persist for so long in plain sight.
Mohammed Zahid, now 65, was handed a 35-year prison sentence at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court for raping and abusing two girls between 2001 and 2006. According to BBC and ITV News, Zahid was the ringleader of a group that preyed on girls as young as 13, grooming them with gifts, money, alcohol, and even free underwear from his lingerie stall at Rochdale’s indoor market. The girls, both from vulnerable backgrounds and known to social services, were systematically exploited and forced into sex acts with Zahid and his friends.
Prosecutors described the abuse as nothing short of enslavement. “Both schoolgirls were treated as ‘sex slaves’ from the age of 13,” the prosecution stated, as reported by The Guardian. One of the victims, in testimony that sent shockwaves through the courtroom, revealed she could have been targeted by more than 200 offenders, saying, “there was that many it was hard to keep count.” The other girl, living in a local children’s home at the time, was targeted by Zahid and fellow market traders Mushtaq Ahmed and Kasir Bashir. She recalled how police would regularly pick her up after social workers labeled her a “prostitute” from the age of 10, an indictment of the system’s failure to protect her.
The seven convicted men—Zahid, Mushtaq Ahmed (66), Kasir Bashir (50), Roheez Khan (39), Mohammed Shahzad (43), Nisar Hussain (41), and Naheem Akram (48)—received sentences ranging from 12 to 39 years. All denied the charges but were convicted unanimously. “These seven men preyed on vulnerability for their own depraved sexual gain,” said Detective Chief Inspector Guy Laycock, the senior investigating officer, as quoted by BBC. “The men abused, degraded and then discarded the victims when they were just children. This horrific abuse knew no limits, despite their denials throughout this lengthy investigation and court case.”
The abuse followed a chilling pattern that has become all too familiar in grooming gang cases across England. Zahid and his co-defendants used what experts have called the “boyfriend model,” gaining the trust of their victims with gifts and attention before coercing them into sexual activity—often with multiple men. The girls were taken to various addresses and remote locations, plied with alcohol, and forced to have unprotected sex with a network of local market traders and taxi drivers. Mohammed Shahzad, a taxi driver, met one of the girls when she was just 13, befriended her, and then began driving her to locations where she was abused by other men, including Hussain and Akram.
One of the victims, referred to in court as “girl B,” attended the sentencing and delivered a powerful statement. She spoke openly about the emotional toll of the abuse, sharing, “The day I watched the verdicts changed my life. I instantly had a massive weight lifted off me.” According to BBC, she urged other victims to come forward, hoping that her testimony would inspire others to break their silence.
The investigation that led to these convictions was conducted by a child sexual exploitation unit within Greater Manchester Police, formed in 2021 as part of a renewed push to tackle historic abuse cases. The force revealed that this was one of two major investigations that have so far resulted in 32 offenders being jailed for a combined total of 474 years for grooming gang activity in Rochdale alone, with 20 more men awaiting trial.
The roots of Rochdale’s notoriety as a hub of grooming gangs stretch back more than a decade. In the early 2010s, investigative journalists exposed widespread abuse and official failings, prompting a national scandal and a series of inquiries. A 2022 report by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse found “extensive failures” by local councils and police, with victims often being dismissed as “child prostitutes” and perpetrators escaping prosecution. The report also noted that many high-profile prosecutions have involved men of Pakistani or Muslim origin, but a lack of formal data collection has made it “impossible to know” whether certain ethnic groups are overrepresented among abusers nationally.
This persistent lack of clarity has made the issue politically charged. In June 2025, the British government announced a full national inquiry into grooming gangs and mandated that police in England and Wales collect ethnicity and nationality data in all child sexual abuse and exploitation cases. This move followed public pressure and a series of controversial social media posts by billionaire Elon Musk, which, according to The Guardian, included many inaccuracies and smears but nonetheless pushed the issue back into the spotlight. A government audit published the same month highlighted the reluctance of many organizations to address the role of ethnicity or cultural factors, often out of fear of “appearing racist, raising community tensions or causing community cohesion problems.”
The sentencing in Rochdale is seen by many as a milestone in the ongoing struggle to bring perpetrators to justice and to reckon with the failures of the past. Sharon Hubber, director of children’s services at Rochdale Borough Council, reflected on the progress made, saying, “Today’s sentencing is a reminder of our ongoing commitment, alongside Greater Manchester Police, in bringing these perpetrators to justice and we will not stop here in our efforts.”
For Zahid, the sentence marks a dramatic fall from the sense of impunity he once enjoyed. During the trial, it was revealed that he would brazenly visit the children’s home to pick up his victim, believing himself to be “almost untouchable.” His previous conviction in 2016 for engaging in sexual activity with a 14-year-old girl—a crime for which he received a five-year sentence—underscored a pattern of predatory behavior that spanned years.
As the dust settles on this latest chapter in Rochdale’s troubled history, the hope among campaigners, survivors, and officials is that the lessons of the past will finally be heeded. The courage of the victims, whose testimony made these convictions possible, has set a new benchmark for accountability. Yet, as the ongoing investigations and the government’s inquiry suggest, the work to protect vulnerable children and confront uncomfortable truths is far from over.
