Victims of a child sex abuse ring have described feeling scared and vulnerable after their ordeals as five gang members were sentenced at the Old Bailey.

The men and teenagers, of Czech and Slovak Roma, and Kurdish backgrounds, raped and preyed on a total of five girls, including one with severe learning difficulties, in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, last year.

One victim was as young as 12.

The girls were forced to have sex with men for money, which was used to buy drugs and alcohol.

One of the victims, known only as girl D, said: “He controlled everything I did and I felt I could do nothing to stop him. I’ve lost my trust in men and don’t know what I would do if they tried to touch me.”

Girl E said: “I thought I love him and he made me feel special … then he became nasty towards me … I began to feel so low at that time I just wanted to go and jump in front of a car and die.”

One of the girls’ mothers also described how her once “bubbly” daughter had been transformed by the abuse.

Another victim, known as Girl A, said: “I felt upset and scared. The boys told me if I told police they would kill me and my family and I thought they would.

“I was worried people would laugh at me and wouldn’t be able to understand me because of how I speak and I was embarrassed about talking.

“After I left court it felt like a long time waiting and felt like nothing was happening. I thought the boys were going to get out and get me. I am still frightened they will kill me when they get out.”

Hassan Abdulla, 33, of Peterborough, was jailed for 20 years with a further five years under licence after he was convicted of four counts of rape and three counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

Zdeno Mirga, 18, known as “Skinny” and considered the ringleader of the gang, was sentenced to 16 and a half years in prison after he was convicted of eight counts of rape, four charges of sexual activity with a child and one count of inciting child prostitution.

Mirga’s offences related to two girls.

Renato Balog, 18, of Bretton, was jailed for 12 years after he was convicted of five rapes and three sexual assaults on three different girls.

Jan Kandrac, a 17-year-old from the Roma community, was jailed for five and a half years for rape and two counts of sexual touching.

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Two men and three teenage boys have been found guilty of a series of rapes and sexual assaults on young girls.

Zdeno Mirga, 18, Hassan Abdulla, 33, and three boys were convicted at the Old Bailey. The Crown Prosecution Service said it was one of the “worst cases” of child sex abuse it had seen.

The group targeted five girls aged 13 and 14 in Peterborough. They are due to be sentenced on 20 February.

Mirga’s brother Dusan, 20, David Ziga, 19, and another teenager were cleared.

One of the group’s victims, referred to in court as Victim A, was a 13-year-old girl with a severe learning disability.

The gang congregated at a fried chicken takeaway in Peterborough and carried out their attacks at locations including a children’s playground, using what police described as “sophisticated” tactics to groom their victims.

After a trial lasting two-and-a-half months, the five were convicted of a total of 18 counts of rape, one of causing or inciting child prostitution, one of engaging in sexual activity with a child, three of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and three of sexual assault.

Judge John Bevan QC said: “Because some of the defendants do not speak good enough English, despite having lived here a long time, three interpreters have worked full time during this case, at a cost of over £30,000.”

He told the jury: “You have sat diligently and paid the closest of attention for weeks on end.

“It has been transparently obvious that you have been working very hard.”

He excused them from further jury service for the next 15 years.

Victim A described Zdeno Mirga, known as “Skinny”, as the gang’s boss, prosecutor Angela Rafferty said.

“He encouraged her, often very forcefully indeed, to give others… sex.

“He did this using the power he had over her at the time, or threatened her and sometimes he used violence against her.

“Skinny took her to parties where she was shared around sexually.”

The girl told police that Mirga “shared” her because he wanted money to buy cannabis and vodka, the court heard.

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