FIVE young men from Banbury have been convicted of committing a range of sexual offences against six teenage girls in Banbury.

Today a jury at Oxford Crown Court returned 16 guilty verdicts after more than two days of deliberating.

The alleged leader of the group, Ahmed Hassan-Sule,  21, of Glyndebourne Gardens, was found guilty of 11 counts of having sexual activity with a child and one count of sexual assault.

Mohamed Saleh, 21, of Orchard Way, was found guilty of sexual activity with a child, but not guilty of a further count of the same offence.

Takudzwa Hova, 21, of Broughton Road, and a 17 year old who cannot be named, were both convicted of rape, and Kagiso Manase, 26, of Warwick Road, was found guilty of sexual assault.

Said Saleh, 20, of Orchard Way, and Alexandru Nae, 19, of Broome Way, were both found not guilty of sexual activity with a child.

Prosecution barrister Stuart Trimmer QC said the defendants identified their targets by organising parties for under 18s.

He said the group was known as “BB or B2” and they subjected their victims to a “cycle” of abuse, which in some cases culminated in “rape and even gang rape”.

All the offences are alleged to have taken place between 2011 and 2013.

The jury has yet to reach verdicts on eight remaining counts and will continue to deliberate tomorrow.

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