A detective who investigated a plot in which two teenage girls were lured to an Accrington house to be raped has described the case as the worst he has ever investigated.
DS Paul Langley spoke out after 19-year-old Stephanie Knight and three co-defendants were locked up saying the victims were put through a night ‘from hell’.
The two teenagers, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were lured to the derelict house after Knight had promised them a night out at a nightclub.
They were instead given drugs and alcohol and taken to the house in Accrington. Once inside one of the girls was repeatedly raped.
Knight wanted the other teenager to perform a sex act on one of the other men but she refused.
She then stopped the teenage victim from going to the aid of her friend who was crying out.
When the girl protested over what was happening to her friend, Knight told her she was ‘chilling with my boys’.
Knight’s former boyfriend, Amjad Hussain, then assaulted both girls as he drove them home in December 2009.
This week Tanveer Butt, Shahid Hussain, and Amjad Hussain were all given indefinite sentences.
After the hearing, DS Langley told the Observer: “These men lacked humanity and have shown no remorse and told blatant lies.
“It’s the worst rape case I have investigated due to what happened, plus the involvement of Stephanie Knight.
“They were very barbaric acts and the sentences handed to them are very good.
“These girls should have been enjoying themselves but they went through a night of hell.” Knight, formerly of Queen Street, Rawtenstall, was found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to rape, and aiding and abetting rape and sent to a young offenders’ institute for seven years. Amjad Hussain, 34, of Sharples Street, Accrington, was convicted of three counts of rape, two counts of conspiracy to rape and one other sex offence. Tanveer Butt, 39, of St Albans Street, Rochdale, was found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to rape, aiding and abetting rape and one count of rape. But he was acquitted on two rape charges. Shahid Hussain, 38, of Drake Street, Rochdale, was found guilty of three rapes, but was found not guilty of two counts of conspiracy to rape.
All three male defendants were jailed indefinitely at Preston Crown Court and ordered to serve at least seven and a half years before they can be considered for parole.
