Girl Kept As Slave Wins £100,000 Compensation

A deaf and mute girl who was trafficked into the UK, repeatedly raped and forced to carry out domestic tasks, has won more than £100,000 compensation in a landmark legal case.

In a ruling thought to be the first of its kind in the UK, the award of £101,300 will be used to compensate the victim for years of unpaid domestic servitude at the hands of Ilyas and Tallat Ashar.

Ilyas Ashar, 85, of Eccles, was found guilty of 13 counts of rape following a re-trial at Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court.

He had been found guilty of two counts of trafficking people for exploitation and three offences under the Social Security Act at an earlier trial.

He was sentenced to 13 years in prison in October 2013, which was increased to 15 years by the Court of Appeal earlier this year.

Tallat Ashar, 69, was found guilty of two counts of trafficking people for exploitation and seven offences under the Social Security Act. She was jailed for five years, which was increased to six after an appeal in February this year.

The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is thought to have been as young as 10 when she was taken in by the Ashar family after being trafficked into the UK in 2000 from Pakistan.

Greater Manchester Police officers, investigating allegations of money laundering alongside Salford Trading Standards, went to the Ashar house in June 2009 and asked to speak to the victim, whose details had been used on bank accounts linked to the couple.

She was found sleeping on a cot bed in the cellar and officers removed her from the scene.

In interviews, she revealed she had been raped on a regular basis by Ilyas Ashar and had been made to carry out cooking, cleaning and other chores at a number of houses.

Thousands of pounds in benefits were also claimed in the victim's name.

Judge Peter Lain ordered the Ashars to pay back £27,762 to the Department of Work and Pensions and £14,205 in benefit fraud, as well as £300,000 in court costs.

Salford divisional commander Chief Superintendent Mary Doyle said: "This result is a landmark case for both GMP and for victims of trafficking everywhere.

"The crimes of the Ashars are well-documented and quite rightly people continue to share a sense of disbelief at the prolonged cruelty they inflicted on their young victim.

"The money will in no way make up for went she went through over a number of years, but it will help her move on with her life and continue her inspiring recovery from these awful events."