NINE men have been convicted of running a child sex exploitation ring which brought vulnerable girls as young as 13 to Nelson and Colne to be abused.

They were today facing substantial jail sentences after being convicted of a racket where under-age victims were groomed for sex and trafficked from the Rochdale area to several address in East Lancashire and beyond.

Girls as young as 13 were first plied with fast food, drink and drugs before they were ‘handed around’ for sex by the men, eight of whom were from Pakistan and one from Afghanistan, Liverpool Crown Court heard.

Det Chief Insp Mike Sanderson said the girls were deliberately targeted by the men because they were regarded as ‘fair game’.

He added: “They used classic grooming techniques to first take them into their confidence. The young, vulnerable under-age victims were plied with alcohol, food and, in some cases, small amounts of cash.

“The victims were passed around and abused repeatedly. They preyed on the fact that the young girls were extremely vulnerable and impressionable.”

Campaigners within the Asian community have now insisted there should be no hiding place for child groomers - and one charity has admitted that British Pakistanis are ‘over-represented’ in conviction rates.

Five victims were ‘shared’ by Kabeer Hassan, 25, Abdul Aziz, 41, Abdul Rauf, 43, Mohammed Sajid, 35, Adil Khan, 42, Abdul Qayyum, 44, Mohammed Amin, 45, Hamid Safi, 22, and a 59-year-old man who cannot be named for legal reasons.

One girl was forced to have an abortion at the age of 13 as a result of the abuse and another was forced to have sex with as many as 20 men in a single night while she was severely drunk.

Others were physically threatened before they were forced to have sex.

The convictions come after an 11-week trial after Greater Manchester Police’s largest ever investigation into child sex exploitation.

Over the course of several years the girls were systematically raped and abused by the gang.

The girls have reported being taken to homes in Nelson, Colne and Bradford for sex - but police were often unable to pinpoint exact locations.

All nine, who are from the Rochdale and Oldham areas, were found guilty of conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child.

Aziz, Khan,Rauf, Sajid and Safi, were each convicted of trafficking for sexual exploitation.

The jury also found the nine guilty of a number of rape, sexual assault and child sexual activity offences.

Two other men aged 41 and 30, were cleared of related charges.

The 59-year-old man was found guilty of the conspiracy, two rapes, aiding and abetting a rape, one charge of sexual assault, and trafficking.

Judge Gerard Clifton will sentence the men for the offences, which occurred between 2008 and 2009, today (Thursday).

Prosecutor Rachel Smith, at the start of the trial, said: “No child should be exploited as these girls say they were.”

The girls were targeted around two takeaways in Heywood and the abuse first came to light when staff at a Rochdale health team reported that there a number of under-age girls had reported having sex with older men.

Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation said: “These criminals have brought shame on themselves, their families and our community.

“We reject their actions without reservation and send our thoughts to the victims.

“There is a significant problem for the British Pakistani community, there is an over representation amongst recent convictions in the crime of on-street grooming.

“There should be no silence in addressing the issue of race as this is central to the actions of these criminals.”

Asif Mahmud, of Blackburn-based One Voice, said: “It is important to recognise that this is a nationwide problem in areas of social deprivation and our focus should be on the vulnerable children who should be supported and afforded the protection which is necessary.”