One of two brothers who led Britain’s most notorious sex-grooming gang, which targeted girls as young as 13, is on parole and hopes to be released after serving less than 12 years in prison.
Mubarek Ali, then 29, and his brother Ahdel ‘Eddie’ Ali, 24, led the seven-man gang, operating in Telford, Shropshire, who preyed on 100 young girls between 2006 and 2009.
The city was a hotbed of abuse, with up to 1,000 girls, some as young as 11, falling victim to sex gangs over a period of four decades.
Over a three-year period, the Ali brothers’ gang targeted schoolgirls they controlled as child prostitutes by providing them with alcohol, food and money.
The Ali brothers were found guilty in 2012 of several offenses against four girls aged 13 to 17, including rape, sexual activity with a child, inciting and controlling child prostitution and trafficking children for sex.
Mubarek Ali was jailed for 14 years and Ahdel Ali was jailed for 18 years after an eight-week trial at Stafford Crown Court.
Mubarek was automatically released halfway through his sentence in 2017, but was sent back to prison just under a year later after breaching his license conditions.
His brother Ahdel was only released in late 2020, when he was halfway through his 18-year prison sentence. But he was recalled to prison just seven months later for breaching his license conditions, believed to be in connection with the use of a mobile phone.
MailOnline can reveal that Ahdel, now aged 35, had a parole date of December 2023 based on prison documents and the decision was to keep him in prison. He will be eligible for another appeal in two years.
As for Mubarek, now 40, his new appeal will be his third since being recalled. The panel on his second in May 2022 found it ‘could find no evidence that his level of risk to others was reduced.
As for Mubarek (pictured), now 40, his new appeal will be his third since being recalled. The panel at his second in May 2022 found it ‘could find no evidence that his level of risk to others was reduced
Mubarek Ali was jailed for 14 years and Ahdel Ali was jailed for 18 years after an eight-week trial at Stafford Crown Court (pictured)
They were ‘not satisfied’ that Mubarek Ali was fit to be released, according to a document detailing the decision.
A Parole Board spokesman said: ‘We can confirm that the parole review of Mubarek Ali has been referred to the Parole Board by the Minister for Justice and is following standard processes.
“The Parole Board’s decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner may represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.
“A panel will carefully examine a wide range of evidence, including details of the original crime and any evidence of behavioral change, as well as examine the harm caused and the impact the crime has had on victims.
‘Members read and digest hundreds of pages of evidence and reports leading up to an oral hearing.
‘Evidence from witnesses such as correctional services, psychiatrists and psychologists, officials who supervise the offender in prison, as well as the victim’s personal statements can be given during the hearing.
“It is standard for prisoners and witnesses to be questioned for a long time during the hearing, which often lasts a whole day or more. Parole review is done thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority.’
During the brothers’ trial, the court heard that the two men systematically groomed young girls in such a way that they could eventually exploit them sexually for their own gain and satisfaction.
The Ali brothers, both of Wellington, Telford, denied a total of 24 offenses alleged to have been committed against four girls between March 2008 and December 2009.
The court was told the men, who were married, had described their victims as ‘w****s’, ‘s***s’ and ‘s**ts’.
The Ali brothers, both from Wellington, Telford, denied a total of 24 offenses alleged to have been committed against four girls between March 2008 and December 2009. Pictured: Ahdel Ali (left) and Mubarek Ali (right)
After seeing the sentenced men, Detective Chief Inspector Neil Jamieson, Senior Investigating Officer for West Mercia Police, said: ‘We are satisfied with the sentences handed down at court today and are pleased that these two men will now serve significant custodial sentences.
“This is one of a number of high profile court cases which have recently taken place across the UK and we are pleased with the verdicts in this case.
‘Ahdel Ali and Mubarek Ali targeted these girls because of their vulnerability and then systematically groomed them in such a way that they could eventually exploit them sexually for their own gain and gratification.’
Five other men from the Telford area pleaded guilty to charges they faced before the start of their trials and were jailed for between two-and-a-half and seven years.
The operation to catch the sex addicts, ‘Operation Chalice’, was one of the biggest in West Mercia Police history.
A team of up to 50 officers worked on the investigation to bring the men to justice.
In 2018, one of the victims of abusers in Telford spoke anonymously on Good Morning Britain to Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid about their ordeal.
Telford has the third highest number of child sexual abuse recorded in the UK, after Blackpool and Rotherham, according to the Home Office.
The woman, who goes by the name ‘Holly’, described how she was sold ‘countless times’ for sex.
She said: ‘I was abused from the age of 14-18, my abuse started with boys my own age who proceeded to sell my phone number to older men.
‘And from there it was basically just a whirlwind of rape every day. I had to go to the doctors and the youth clinic to get the morning-after pill, probably twice a week, and no one even questioned anything.
‘I had two miscarriages but still nothing was said to me. I sat in cars that were pulled over by the police and they didn’t ask me any questions about why I was there with a much older man…it got to the point where I tried to kill myself and still no one, who asked me questions about what was going on in my life and why I reacted the way I did.’
Holly added: ‘The way I got out of it was by actually leaving Telford and isolating myself from my friends and family and everyone else I knew.
‘The reason it took so long was because the men blackmailed me and said they would rape my family members or burn my house down.’
Asked by Susanna Reid how many men she believes were responsible for the abuse she suffered, ‘Holly’ said: ‘I couldn’t even put a number on it, it’s so many.
The operation to catch the sex addicts, ‘Operation Chalice’, was one of the biggest in West Mercia Police history
“The biggest abusers, I would say seven, but I was sold every day, countless times, for four years.”
The authority responsible for the town, Telford and Wrekin Council, acted on only half the warnings they received, it emerged at the time ‘Holly’ spoke out.
They received 715 referrals for sexual exploitation of children aged three, but only 324 of the cases were referred.
Authorities had been alerted to abuse a decade before Operation Chalice.
But authorities were alerted to the abuse a decade before Operation Chalice.
Only 303 were passed on to its children abused through exploitation teams, according to figures released under freedom of information laws.