Seven men have been sentenced to a jail term of 174 years after they exploited two vulnerable girls in Northern England.

Suspects faced this judgement after they were convicted following the latest trial over a decades-old “grooming gangs” scandal.

The men were convicted in June 2025, after a trial involving a total of 50 offences, including 30 counts of rape, which occurred between 2001 and 2006.

According to prosecutor Rossano Scamardella’s statement to jurors during the start of their trial at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court, the group’s two victims were “passed around for sex, abused, degraded and then discarded”.

Scamardella said two girls were well known to social services and that it was “no secret” they were having sex with older South Asian men such as the defendants, a situation with similarities to other grooming gangs.

However, all suspects denied those charges but were still convicted and given jail sentences between 12 and 35 years on October 1, 2025, according to Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service.

However, the scandal had faded away, but it resurfaced due to the political agenda in Britain this year following tough criticism from Elon Musk to new Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Starmer furiously rejected Musk’s allegations after he accused him of failing to tackle the scandal when he was Britain’s chief prosecutor.

In June 2025, Starmer announced the rejection of any recommendation for a national inquiry into grooming gangs who have the habit of abusing thousands of girls sexually just a day after seven men were convicted.

At least 1,400 children were subjected to sexual exploitation in Rotherham, northern England, between the years 1997 and 2013, according to a 2014 inquiry.

Inside the report, perpetrators are majorly of Pakistani heritage; that is, local officials and other agencies have been wary of identifying ethnic origins for fear of upsetting community cohesion.

Alarm has been raised in other towns and cities of England over this grooming gangs which have prompted criminal prosecutions and local enquiries.

Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court building.PHOTO/ Manchester TV