Grooming gang abuser who targeted 'hapless' girl, 11, appeals sentence

He was sentenced last month to 14 years’ imprisonment with 2 years’ extended licence.

Mr Justice Slater said he was an “offender of particular concern” as he passed the sentence at Sheffield Crown Court, which will permit Amar to be eligible for parole halfway through.

His family shook their hands and put their heads in their hands in the public gallery as the sentence was passed down, with one person slamming the door to the gallery as they left in reaction to Judge Slater’s remarks.

The victim of Amar’s abuse has passed this broadcaster a copy of urgent victim notification from their regional witness care unit, notifying her that Amar, 43, was appealing his sentence.

Amar’s legal representation from the trial did not respond to inquiries.

The abuser was sentenced alongside six other Rotherham sex criminals who committed offences against two girls between April 2003 and April 2008.

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Before Amar was sentenced last month, a survivor of his abuse gave a moving victim impact statement, directly addressing her rapists in the dock.

Speaking from a stand next to the judge, she detailed the appalling nature of the abuse she faced from the men.

She was forced to commit a sexual act aged 11, groomed at her primary school playground, raped at 12, and her “childlike body” assaulted as she was plied with drink and drugs by a taxi driver.

She told the court how she had been made to take a virginity test aged 11.

“You made it sound like it was a crime to be a virgin. That same day you sent me off and forced me to commit a sexual act. My innocence was stolen.”

She said that she had been raped by over 150 men by the time she was 16, having been trafficked across the country.

Speaking to one of the rapists facing prison, she said: “You made sure my abuse went to the next level. You made sure it was a free-for-all.

“If the free drinks, cigarettes, drugs didn’t make me do as I was told, you would take my phone and drive me around England.”

The girls were abused in supermarket car parks, in cemeteries, and even behind a nursery.

In one shocking example, a girl had to escape from one of her rapist’s homes, climbing through a window after she was locked inside.

In new proposals to crack down on grooming gangs, Tory leadership hopeful Robert Jenrick has called for members of grooming gangs to be sentenced to whole-life tariffs.

The former Immigration Minister has also called for the automatic deportation of non-British offenders.

Speaking on the appeal of Amar, Jenrick said: “This evil man should have been locked up for the rest of his life.

“We urgently need to change the law so these despicable grooming gang predators get the punishment they deserve, and vulnerable women and girls are kept safe.”