News Beat
Two men who raped girl, 14, in sick two-year-long attack 25 years ago are jailed as part of Rotherham child abuse probe
TWO men who raped a teenage girl in a horrifying two-year attack 25 years ago have now been jailed as part of the Rotherham child abuse investigation.
Kessur Ajaib, 44, and Mohammed Makhmood, 43, have been jailed for a total of 15 and a half years.
At the time of the attack they were aged between 18 and 20.
The pair raped the victim, aged around 14, over a period of more than two years, beginning in 1999.
Ajaib attacked the girl while she was out in Rotherham.
He started talking to her and gave her alcohol, before luring her to an alleyway in a residential area where he raped her.
Ajaib was sentenced to eight years and six months in prison for the rape and a further three years, to run concurrently, for indecently assaulting the same girl.
Makhmood carried out his attack after he found the girl waiting at a bus stop one evening.
He invited her to smoke a cigarette with him before leading her to a nearby graveyard, where he raped her.
Makhmood received a seven-year prison sentence.
Both men must sign the sex offenders register for life.
The victim was contacted by specially trained officers from Operation Stovewood after they identified that she may have been sexually abused as a child.
Operation Stovewood is the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) investigation into allegations of sexual abuse in Rotherham, which was launched in 2014.
The woman told what had happened to her as a girl and investigators were able to gather corroborating evidence.
Ajaib and Makhmood were arrested and then charged in February 2024.
Both men were found guilty of raping the girl on July 23, 2025, following a trial at Sheffield Crown Court in which a co-defendant was also convicted of raping a second girl.
NCA senior investigating officer Alan Hastings said: “I would like to recognise how courageous the victim was in reporting the sexual abuse that Kessur Ajaib and Mohammed Makhmood subjected her to as a child.
“It must have been extremely difficult for the woman to relive that period in her life, but the information she shared enabled us to identify corroborating evidence and secure justice for her.
“I hope it will bring the woman some closure to know that Ajaib and Makhmood are now in prison.
“I encourage victims to report child sexual abuse to police if they feel ready to do so. Specially trained officers are ready and waiting to help.”
Liz Fell, Specialist Prosecutor for the CPS Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit, said: “Ajaib, Hussain and Makhmood deliberately exploited the victims’ vulnerabilities, abusing them in the most appalling way and leaving a lasting impact on two women who they callously targeted and mistreated as children.
“These defendants have now been held accountable for their horrific crimes.
“I want to once again thank both women for their immense courage in coming forward and staying engaged throughout the legal process.
“Their determination and strength in seeing this case through has been crucial in bringing these offenders to justice.
“The CPS will continue to work tirelessly with our law enforcement partners to pursue perpetrators of child sexual abuse and secure justice for victims, no matter how many years have passed.”
Ajaib and Makhmood’s co-defendant, Sageer Hussain, 40, of Rotherham, who is already serving a 19-year-jail sentence for raping a girl, was sentenced to a further three years in prison for raping a second girl, on November 11 at Sheffield Crown Court.
Hussain and the girl were both aged about 14 at the time.
The girl used to see Hussain around Rotherham town centre.
On an occasion between 2000 and 2002, Hussain led the girl down an alleyway, where he told her he would not let her back out unless she had sex with him.
She refused but he raped her.
The NCA’s Operation Stovewood remains the single biggest investigation of its kind, looking at allegations of abuse in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013.
To date 49 people – including Ajaib and Makhmood – have been convicted and received custodial sentences totalling more than 1,500 years.
As part of the operation, in March this year, two predators who groomed and raped vulnerable girls in Rotherham were jailed.
Romauld Stefan Houphouet, 37, and Absolom Sigiyo, 42, attacked two 15-year-old girls “countless” times over a year-long campaign.
The vile pair organised parties where they could get the teens, who were described as “vulnerable in the extreme”, drunk.
They then referred to them as “fresh meat” as they carried out sickening sex attacks.
In September 2024, Waleed Ali, 42, from Scunthorpe was jailed after being found guilty of raping a 14-year-old girl in an alleyway.
The investigation was also part of Operation Stovewood.
Anyone who has experienced child sexual abuse can also find details of
local support services at www.whenyouareready.com.
