Rotherham rapist who attacked and tortured victims as younger as 11 is free of jail after serving simply 9 years of 19-year sentence
A member of a Rotherham grooming gang who attacked and tortured his victims will be released from prison nine years after he was sentenced to serve 19.
Banaras Hussain, 44, abused his victims over 11 years and was one of six members of the grooming gang jailed for a total of 103 years.
He is being released on licence today.
Hussain was sentenced in 2016 after admitting 10 charges including rape, indecent assault and actual bodily harm, with some of his victims being as young as 11.
It emerged during his trial that Hussain, who is also a convicted drug dealer, was once caught in a police car park with one of his victims while she was performing a sex act on him – but that officers simply drove off.
Now shadow justice secretary, Robert Jenrick has written to the Parole Board asking to ‘keep the monster behind bars’.
One of Hussain’s victims, Sammy Woodhouse, described him as ‘one of the most dangerous men in the country’.
Hussain’s brother, and the ringleader, Arshid Hussain was imprisoned for 35 years, brother Basharat Hussain, 39, was handed 25 years and their uncle, Qurban Ali, 53, was jailed for 10 years.
Banaras Hussain, 44, who is also a convicted drug dealer, will be freed from prison today after serving half of his 19-year prison sentence
Victim Sammy Woodhouse described Hussain as ‘one of the most dangerous men in the country’
Richard Tice, Reform UK’s deputy leader, said a ‘sentence is a sentence’ and an example should be set for ‘heinous’ crimes, The Telegraph reports.
He added: ‘What is the point of giving someone 19 years and [letting them] out after nine and a half.’
He also stated that if you don’t like it ‘don’t rape people and groom people’.
A report released in 2014 found that at least 1,400 children were victims of child sexual abuse in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013, as it slammed police and other professional agencies for not acting, claiming they did not see the children as victims.
Speaking on Hussain last year Sammy Woodhouse said: ‘ He kidnapped, assaulted, raped and tortured children over a period of several years.
‘Those children are now adults and still struggle every single day because of the horrific acts he and others have committed against them.’
A Prison Service spokesman said: ‘Offenders released on licence are subject to strict conditions and we do not hesitate to recall them to prison if they break the rules.’
Last year Hussain was moved to an open prison on appeal and had already served time on remand, meaning he has served more than half of his full sentence.
Hussain will be released under strict conditions and if he breaks them he can be recalled to prison.
It is understood that one of Hussain’s licence conditions prevents him from entering the Rotherham area.
