FOUR members of an Oxford paedophile ring who were jailed after Operation Bullfinch have failed get their minimum prison sentences cut.

Bassam Karrar, Kamar Jamil, and brothers Anjum Dogar and Akhtar Dogar appealed against the minimum amount of time they must spend behind bars after being found guilty of raping and prostituting girls as young as 11.

They were among seven men jailed at the Old Bailey in June 2013 after abusing six girls between 2004 and 2008.

Lady Justice Hallett at the Court of Appeal said their sentences were "severe... but deservedly so" and refused to cut their sentences.

Karrar, 35, of Hundred Acres Close, Oxford, was ordered to serve at least 15 years behind bars after being found guilty of three counts of rape, three counts of conspiracy to rape and three counts of child prostitution and trafficking.

Akhtar Dogar, 34, and Anjum Dogar, 33, both of Tawney Street, Oxford, were jailed for a minimum of 17 years each after being convicted for a total of 20 offences between them.

Between them, there were eight counts of rape, six counts of conspiracy to rape and six counts of child prostitution and trafficking.

Jamil, 29, of Aldrich Road, Oxford, was ordered to serve at least 12 years in prison after being found guilty of five counts of rape, two counts of conspiracy to rape and one count of arranging child prostitution.

Lawyers argued the sentences were much too tough, saying the terms the men had to serve before they could apply for parole were “excessive”.

But Lady Justice Hallett, sitting with Mr Justice Saunders and Mrs Justice McGowan, said: "It beggars belief that men who claim to pride themselves on being family men, some with daughters of their own, could treat other people's daughters in this way and that exploitation of children of this kind could persist for so long in 21st Century Britain.

"This kind of behaviour cannot be tolerated in a civilised society.

"Members of the public have been horrified and rightly expect those responsible to receive severe sentences as a punishment and as a deterrent to others

"There is little mitigation."

She added: "Sadly, this is not the only case of child exploitation to come before the courts in recent years. However, it is one of the worst to date.

"These men took vulnerable young girls and treated them in a depraved, sadistic and brutal fashion.

"Not content with using them as their own sexual objects, they encouraged others to do the same, often for money.

"They treated the girls as less than human."