The men were part of a gang that abused the underaged girl in horrific ways in and around a house in Blackrod over a two year period between 2016 and 2018.
A two-day hearing at Liverpool Crown Court heard moving testimony from the girl herself and from her mother read by prosecutor Ben Lawrence on the impact the men’s actions had.
The mother’s statement, read by Mr Lawrence, said: “The trust my daughter once had in the world, in people, has been shattered.”
The statement added: “Blackrod was all my daughter had ever known and her world was just ripped from her.”
The case was heard at Liverpool Crown Court (Image: Newsquest) Mr Lawrence continued to read the statement saying: “My daughter is the most beautiful and kind soul you could ever meet.”
The mothers’ statement added: “These monsters have to realise what they’ve really done.”
Four of the men, Ashley Darbyshire, 28 of Westhoughton, Brandon Harwood, 25, of Bolton, Ross Corley, 30 of Blackrod and Harvie Aspden, 25 of Radcliffe, were sentenced on the first day.
Jack Poulson (Image: GMP) Now Jack Poulson, 32, of Bolton, was one of the next group to learn his fate on the second day of the hearing.
A victim impact statement from the victim read by Mr Lawrence said that he was “a very cocky person and very in your face, he always wanted to be the clown of the group”.
Her statement said: “Things that stick out with me with Jack are his laugh, his cocky laugh will be with me forever.”
Another girl’s statement said she was “scared and upset” by Poulson’s sexual messages and says “part of her childhood has been taken away”.
Poulson, who has three previous convictions for three offences, was convicted of two counts of rape and a count of assault by penetration after a trial earlier this year.
He was also found guilty of five counts of sexual activity with a child, causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.
Jurors also convicted Poulson of sexual communication with a child.
Richard Haslam (Image: GMP) Next was Richard Haslam, 36, of Bolton, who was convicted of three rapes, two counts of sexual activity with a child and one count of causing a child to engage in sexual activity.
The girl’s statement said Haslam, who admitted during the trial to being a “busy cocaine dealer” and who has six previous convictions for 12 offences seemed to have a “position of authority”.
She said that “whatever Rick said, Rick got”.
Elliott Turner (Image: GMP) Elliott Turner, 26, of Horwich, was convicted of two counts of sexual activity with a child at the same trial.
According to the girl’s statement, read by Mr Lawrence: The likes of Elliott did nothing to stand up for me and get me away from it.”
Her statement added: “It haunts me that a person can sit and watch these events play out like Elliott did.”
Her statement told the court she was told Turner was “a good person, with a good reputation” and that “they manipulated me to feel that way”.
Jamie Fitzgerald (Image: GMP) Jamie Fitzgerald, 36, of Bolton, who has 17 previous convictions for 34 offences, was convicted of assault by penetration.
The girl said that she still hears his laugh sometimes, she says “I can still hear him mocking me, telling me that he’ll never get caught.”
Corey Barrett, 24, formerly of Blackrod and now of Wigan, had been living in the Blackrod house where much of the abuse took place.
He was found guilty of five rapes, including an assault he took part in alongside Darbyshire, and another count of assault by penetration.
Corey Barrett (Image: GMP) The girl’s statement said that she at first thought Barrett could be a friend but he “very, very quickly became one of them and one of the worst”.
Her statement said “death was better than that night” when Darbyshire and Barrett abused her.
Finally, Daniel Flatters, 34 of Bolton, was due to be sentenced after being convicted of four counts of sexual activity with child, supplying cocaine and aggravated vehicle taking.
Mr Lawrence told the court Flatters had been involved in the supply of cocaine and was a “busy street dealer”.
Daniel Flatters (Image: GMP) The girl’s statement said he “broke my heart and destroyed my perception of love forever”.
Her statement said Flatters “love bombed me to get what he wanted”.
Vishal Misra, defending Poulson, said he had become more mature after this “eye-opening” experience.
He said he has a different side to his character that “can take responsibility and that he is now fostering”.
Adam Brown, for Haslam, said he had no relevant previous convictions and has been using his time in custody well.
Anthony O’Donoghoe, for Turner, told the court he was “not a habitual visitor” to the house in Blackrod
He also said Turner, who was just 17 at the time, has no record of previous offending and “nothing since in the long, long wait for this matter to be concluded”.
Andrew Scott, for Fitzgerald, said his crime was “a single, isolated offence, nonetheless a serious offence” and that he had only been at the house in Blackrod once.
Ian McLoughlin KC, for Barrett, said he was “in no sense the driving force in that or indeed any other offence”.
He said that Barrett followed others who were older and more sophisticated and that “no shortage of older and malign influences” played their part in his background.
Rosalind Emsley Smith, for Flatters, said that this had been a “particularly dark period for him”.
She said: “The moral compass of some of the defendants clearly became skewed during the period of this drug-fuelled chaos.”
Judge Simon Medland KC accepted these points but reminded the men of the devastation their actions had wrought.
Addressing Poulson, he said: “You were one of the principal actors against her for your own sexual gratification.”
He jailed Poulson for 17 years and made him subject to the sex offender notification requirement for with a restraining order and sexual harm prevention order until further order.
To Haslam, Judge Medland said: “You stand as a classic example of how Class A drugs destroy people’s lives.”
Judge Medland jailed Haslam for 16 years.
Like Poulson, Judge Medland made him subject to the sex offender notification requirements for life along with a sexual harm prevention order and restraining order until further order.
Moving on to Turner, Judge Medland said he was “quite sure that proper punishment could not be imposed were I to suspend that sentence”.
He jailed Turner for two years and made him subject to the sex offender notification requirement for 10 years, and a restraining order and sexual harm prevention order for 10 years.
Turning to Barrett, Judge Medland said: “Your protestations at trial that you did not at any stage know her really age where hollow and were not believed.”
Judge Medland says Barrett’s life “descended over the years into a depressing spiral of filth and degradation”.
He said Barrett’s home became “a den of iniquity, a filthy hovel” where drinking and drug taking took place.
Judge Medland sentenced Barrett to 12 years in prison and made him subject to the sex offender notification register for life.
He will also be subject to a restraining order and sexual harm prevention order until further order.
Judge Medland jailed Fitzgerald for five years and six months and made him subject to the sex offender notification requirement for life and a restraining order until further order.
Turning finally to Flatters, Judge Medland described him as a “mature adult” and also “a drug supplier and also a heavy user of cocaine.”
He said: “As I have remarked so often, Class A drugs destroy people’s lives.”
Judge Medland jailed Flatters for seven years and banned him from driving for one year with a three years and three months extension.
He will be subject to the sex offender notification order for life and the restraining order and sexual harm prevention order until further order.
After the final defendants had gone down to the cells, Judge Medland finished by thanking both prosecutors and defence counsel for their work on the case.
He praised the work of Detective Constable Robert Booth for the “labour with determination” he showed in the case.
He said that DC Booth had approached the “quite impeccable” investigation “with an implacable certainly in his mind that justice would be done”.
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After the hearing, CPS North West senior crown prosecutor Gill Petrovic said: “The way the men groomed and coerced the young girls from their community for their own sexual gratification was manipulative and appalling.
“They exploited the girls with no concern for them or the impact the abuse from a young age would have on their lives.
“Sexual abuse can cause lifelong physical and emotional trauma.
“As their abusers begin their sentences, I hope the women can now begin to move forward knowing that because of their evidence and support, the men have been brought to justice.
“The CPS is dedicated to pursuing justice for victims of child sexual abuse and will continue to work with our policing partners to prosecute the perpetrators of these heinous acts, no matter how much time has passed since they committed their crimes.”
