Peterborough sex attack gang jailed

Zdeno Mirga, 18, (left), and Hassan Abdulla, 33, (right) were found guilty along with three teenage boys of a series of rapes and sexual assaults on girls

A gang that raped and sexually assaulted five vulnerable girls in Peterborough have been jailed at the Old Bailey.

Hassan Abdulla, 33, was jailed for 20 years while Zdeno Mirga, 18, described as the "boss" by one victim, was jailed for 16-and-a-half years.

Both were convicted of multiple rapes and child prostitution.
Jan Kandrac, 17, and Renato Balog, 18, were jailed for five-and-a-half and 12 years respectively.

A 14-year-old boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was given a non-custodial six-month youth rehabilitation order after being convicted of sexual activity with a child.
The men and youths were of Czech and Slovak Roma and Kurdish backgrounds.
'Worst case'
 
Ringleader Mirga and Balog will begin their sentences in a young offender institution.
Mirga was convicted of eight counts of rape and one count of inciting child prostitution. The court heard one of his victims became pregnant.

Drug dealer Abdulla was convicted of four rapes and three counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

Balog, who helped Abdulla sell drugs, was jailed for five rapes and three sexual assaults.
Kandrac will serve his sentence in a young offender institution for one count of rape and two of indecent assault on a child.

The court was told the case came to light when a girl, then aged 12 or 13, was taken into care and began to tell her social worker what had been happening to her.
After the trial the Crown Prosecution Service said it was one of the "worst cases" of child sex abuse it had seen.

The gang preyed on girls who visited at a fried chicken takeaway in Peterborough.
They used "sophisticated" grooming tactics to lure them to attacks carried out at parks and other locations, including a children's playground, police said.

Peterborough City Council has begun a serious case review into the care the children received.