RAPIST Assad Hussain was not charged by police for attacking his victim in her Blackbird Leys home until almost eight years after she complained.

He was today convicted of carrying out harrowing abuse against one victim over eight years, along with brother Anjum and Akhtar Dogar.

During the trial, Oxford Crown Court was told the woman told officers the sex offender had raped her in April 2007.

He was arrested two months later but not charged with rape until after another arrest last June.

In his interview with police in 2007, Hussain said he had sex with the victim during the time he had known her but insisted the pair were never in a serious relationship, claiming he never raped her.

Senior investigating officer of major crime Det Ch Insp Mark Glover said officers dropped the investigation after the girl gave a statement telling police she did not want to proceed with the case.

But he shunned claims her allegation was the warning sign officers needed to discover the abuse she was suffering.

He added: "Going back to 2007, that’s nine years ago now, and there’s been a massive amount of learning in that time.

"If this happened today, with the Kingfisher team in place and the multi-agency approach, all the gaps should be filled and that intelligence picture presented a lot earlier."

Cowley-based Kingfisher team was set up in 2012 to improve police and social workers’ approach to child sex exploitation.