Third man sentenced in Nottingham child sexual abuse case

Only a lenient suspended sentence for this one. The conclusion of the convictions I posted here last week. H/T MB. From the West Bridgford Wire and BBC Nottingham

A third and final man convicted as part of a painstaking investigation into child sexual abuse has been sentenced. Hamza Shazad, 27, was one of five men prosecuted over the sexual abuse of three vulnerable teenage girls. 

The female victims were aged between 13 and 15 when they were groomed, sexually exploited and abused between February 2017 and January 2019. 

Shazad, of Ewart Road, Forest Fields, was cleared by a jury last month of charges of engaging in sexual communication with a child, causing or inciting a child aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity and meeting a child following sexual grooming.

He had, however, already admitted to three counts of making indecent images of children, three counts of distributing indecent images of a child and another charge of possessing extreme pornographic images.

Appearing at Nottingham Crown Court this afternoon he was sentenced to 16 months in prison suspended for 18 months and ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work. He was also added to the sex offenders’ register for a period of ten years, banned from working with children and ordered to complete 15 days of rehabilitation activity.

Judge John Burgess said that while Shazad had been cleared by a jury of more serious charges, the offences he admitted committing warranted a potential custodial sentence. “People need to know that the public regard this kind of thing as utterly repellent,” he said.

Det Insp Jamie Hill, who led the investigation for Nottinghamshire Police, said Shazad’s sentence “brings to an end a very demanding investigation”.

Two other men were jailed last month for a total of more than ten years for their part in the abuse.