THE victims in the Banbury sex abuse case have been praised for their bravery throughout the trial.

Today six men have been convicted of a range of sexual offences against six teenage girls.

A total of 16 guilty verdicts came back yesterday after more than two days of deliberating.

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Jim Leivers, Oxfordshire County Council’s Director for Children, Education and Families, said: "This case embodies all of the lessons learned from Operation Bullfinch and is a very different case as a result.

"The social workers and police officers have worked in close co-operation on a day to day basis devoting a large amount of time to building high levels of trust between themselves and the victims over a long period."

"These victims have shown real bravery. They have been rewarded for that bravery with the verdicts that have been returned - as have the professionals who have put huge amounts of time and effort in to working towards this outcome.

"Those same professionals have now already started working with the victims in this case to help their transition in to what we all hope will be a normal and healthy adulthood."

The alleged leader of the group Ahmed Hassan-Sule, 20, of Glyndebourne Gardens, Banbury, was found guilty of 11 counts of having sexual activity with a child and one count of sexual assault.

Mohammed 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.

This afternoon four of the men, Mohammed Saleh, Takudzwa Hova, Ahmed Hassan-Sule and Kagiso Manase, have been found guilty of sexual activity with a child.

Hova and Manase have been convicted of two counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

Three of the men - Saleh, Hova and Nae have been cleared of rape.