Woman lured girls to be raped by three men

A woman has been convicted of plotting to lure two girls on a night out so they could be raped by three men.

Stephanie Knight, 19, told the 16-year-olds they were going out clubbing in Lancashire in December 2009.

But instead the girls were raped by brothers Amjad Hussain, 34, Shahid Hussain, 37, and their cousin Tanveer Butt, 39.

Knight and the three men were convicted of rape offences following a trial at Burnley Crown Court.

The girls were given alcohol and drugs and taken to an empty terraced house in Accrington with no electricity where the three men subjected one of the girls to a "terrifying ordeal", jurors were told.

Amjad Hussain then raped both girls and drove them home to Blackburn.

The prosecution said the victims had known Knight for up to a week and had not previously met any of the other defendants.

After she lured them out for the evening, Knight was heard to say "got them" in a mobile phone conversation and named the girls, the court heard.

She denied there was any agreement for the sexual assaults to take place.

Knight, who has been in care since the age of 11, said she first met Amjad Hussain six months earlier when he pulled up beside her in the street and asked for her mobile phone number.

They went on to have a sexual relationship and she said she later fell in love with him.

In the months that followed Amjad Hussain persuaded her to perform a sex act on his brother and cousin, she said.

The court heard that Knight herself was currently being supported by Engage, a multi-agency initiative set up to tackle child sex exploitation in Blackburn.

Amjad Hussain claimed that sex with both girls was consensual. The other men denied having met the girls.

Knight, formerly of Queen Street in Rawtenstall; Amjad Hussain, of Sharples Street in Accrington; and Butt, of St Albans Street in Rochdale, were all convicted of conspiracy to rape.

Knight and Butt were also found guilty of aiding and abetting rape, while Amjad Hussain, Shahid Hussain, of Drake Street, Rochdale, and Butt were all convicted of rape.

They are all due to be sentenced on 2 September.