The Transcripts

This Batley grooming gang case involved Yusuf Kayat, who was 19 years old at the time of the offending, and who systematically groomed and raped a vulnerable 10-year-old girl over at least six months in what the judge described as a "campaign of rape and sexual abuse." The victim was bullied at school and looked up to older girls, making her impressionable and wanting attention - "the perfect prey" for Kayat and his friends. Kayat would turn up in his fancy car, blasting music and showing off, sexually attracted to the young child and immediately setting his sights on her. He began a systematic grooming campaign involving sweets, lifts, gifts, clothing, jewellery, makeup, compliments, cigarettes, and cannabis to make her feel grown up and wanted whilst lowering her inhibitions. He progressed from kisses to calling her his girlfriend, then sexual touching and oral sex, telling her to "count to 10" the first time to take her mind off it, praising her afterwards "almost as if she was an obedient dog." When she initially claimed to be 13 to seem older, then revealed her real age of 10, this did not deter him - instead, he put his fingers into her vagina telling her "she needed to be bigger to accommodate your penis," then took her to a secluded car park where he raped her for the first time aged 10. Sex became increasingly frequent, often twice in one session interspersed with cannabis to make her "more accommodating." Kayat then used her as "a commodity to carry favour with your friends, passing her from one to another," with the victim describing one incident where three men she'd never seen before each forced her to perform oral sex until they ejaculated - "she was like some sort of novelty act for them." There were too many men to count, with Kayat maintaining the pretence by telling her she was the one he would marry and getting her to convert to Islam. The victim has been diagnosed with complex post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic anxiety, with no aspect of her life untouched by the devastation. The judge sentenced Kayat to 20 years imprisonment, noting he will serve two-thirds (just short of 14 years) before being referred to the Parole Board, with the judge expressing sympathy for Kayat's wife and three children who will suffer for something that happened before they came into his life.