THE "evil" central figure in the case of 12 men convicted of sexually abusing a Keighley teenager, drug dealer Arif Choudhury, was blamed by many of the defendants for planning the rapes.

He has left the country and is believed to be in Bangladesh.

Choudhury, 18, formerly of Victoria Avenue, Keighley, was accused by the girl of raping her in the grounds of a Keighley church when she was 13, after she refused to sell any more drugs for him.

She said he forced her to her knees and held her by the hair when she was raped in the "Cop Shop" underground car park.

He was dealing in heroin, cocaine, steroids, ecstasy, cannabis, MCAT and amphetamine.

Choudhury forced her to have sex with other men, bruising her face and breaking her rib.

She said her abusers wrote her name on the wall in the car park, where she was raped on an old green sofa.

The 12 convicted men who are due to be sentenced at Bradford Crown Court on Monday are:

Khalid Raja Mahmood, 34, then of Gordon Street, Keighley, for two charges of rape and three of three offences of sexual activity with a child.

Bilal Ziarab, known as Billy or Browny, 21, of Sedgwick Close, Manningham, Bradford, who was found guilty of two rapes, has a conviction for sexual activity with a child. He was 16 when he walked with a 14-year-old girl to a secluded area and had consensual oral sex with her.

Nazir Khan, known as Khany, 24, of Buxton Street, Keighley, who was found guilty of one offence of rape, has convictions for indecent exposure.

Saqib Younis (Saqi Butcher) 29, of Bradford Street, Lawkholme, Keighley, who was convicted of one charge of rape, has a previous conviction for possession of a firearm.

Faisal Khan, (Buller) 27, of Buxton Street, Keighley, who was found guilty of one offence of rape, had served a sentence of almost four years for robbery.

Yasser Kabir, 25, of Belgrave Road, Keighley, who was convicted of raping the schoolgirl three times, and will also be sentenced for raping and abusing two little girls when he was a boy.

Sufyan Ziarab, known as Sufy, 23, of Kendal Mellor Court, Keighley, who was convicted of two charges of rape; Tauqeer Hussain, known as Toki, 23, of Belgrave Road, Keighley, who was found guilty of three charges of raping two victims; Israr Ali (Sari) 19, of Devonshire Street West, Keighley, who raped the girl at Burgess Fields in Keighley; Hussain Sardar (Dolly) 19, of Bradford Street, Lawkholme, Keighley, and Zain Ali (Droopy) 20, of Buxton Street, Keighley, who each raped the girl in Dalton Lane; and taxi driver Mohammed Akram, 63, of Holker Street, Keighley, who was found guilty of sexual activity with the girl.

During a mitigation hearing today, Louise Blackwell QC, barrister for Sufyan Ziarab, labelled Choudhury "an evil man who has slipped through the net".

The planning was all his. Ziarab never asked the girl to go to the car park, which was a private meeting place for young men to buy, sell and abuse drugs.

Ziarab never used any violence towards the girl and there was no element of grooming on his part. He was of extremely low intelligence and found it difficult to see the consequences of his actions.

His peer group had "normalised" the behaviour.

Tahir Khan QC, for Kabir, said: "All the violence was by Arif Choudhury."

He "ragged" the girl's head around before she was raped.

Kabir used the car park as a meeting place and did not know the girl was vulnerable.

His abuse of the two little girls began when he was a boy of 13 and, at 25, he was still a young man.

Mr Khan conceded that "a very long prison sentence" was inevitable.

Kitty Taylor said Bilal Ziarab was pressured into committing the offences in the underground car park by Arif Choudhury.

The girl told the police he had not used any violence towards her.

Reading from her victim statement, Mrs Taylor said: “Arif was telling him to do it. He walked with his head down as if he was ashamed of it.”

Mrs Taylor said: “He was pressured by Arif Choudhury."

The offences had taken place between June and October 2011 when Bilal Ziarab was 16.

He was leading a “feral lifestyle” while hanging out with groups of drug users in Keighley.

Imran Shafi, for Tauqeer Hussain said his client had no previous convictions and had been 16 at the time.

“There was no evidence of threat of force or use of force,” said Mr Shafi, referring to the three rapes in the underground car park.

“He committed the offences when he was a very, very young man.”

Imran Shafi, mitigating on behalf of Tauqeer Hussain, said he was a man of previous good character, with no previous convictions and an “exemplary work record.”

Ian Brook, mitigating for Nazir Khan, said his client had been involved in drugs and excessive drinking but it had been Arif Choudhury who had been violent towards the victim.

Mr Brook said a probation report suggested that Khan had a “slight propensity to be violent in relationships”. Khan has a sexual conviction for exposing himself.

Katherine Pierpoint, for Saqib Younis, said he had not issued threats to the victim and it was “just one incident” which was “shortlived and never repeated”. References had described Younis in “glowing terms”, said Ms Pierpoint.

Geraldine Kelly, for Hussain Sardar, said he was 15 at the time of the offence which was as “an isolated incident” which had not been repeated. The author of a pre-sentence report on Sardar said he had “demonstrated denial and a lack of victim empathy”, although Ms Kelly said immaturity played a part in this.

“There is still an element of immaturity. He tells me he feels extremely awkward discussing these offences with anybody.”

Soheil Khan, mitigating for Zain Ali, described the pre-sentence report as “little value because he continues to deny the offence”.

Mr Khan added: “He is someone who didn’t do well at school and spent his time appeasing his peers. He is immature in his thinking.”

Frida Hussain, for Israr Ali, said her client had an IQ of only 50, was learning disabled and a juvenile at the time of the offence.

Barry Kogan, for Mohammed Akram, said his client was of previous good character, having been in the UK for 40 years. The former taxi driver’s former employer, Crown Taxis, said there had been no complaints against him in ten years.

Naeem Mian, for Khalid Mahmood, said alcohol abuse had fuelled his offending. During his time in prison, he had attended courses and was addressing his offending and fully accepted his responsibility for the offences.

Mr Mian said Mahmood had three children and close family members who were standing by him.

“He is a model prisoner. It is a cliché, but he is a changed man. Give him hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel.”

He added: “This is a tragic case for the victim, for his (Mahmood’s) children and in some respects is a tragic case for him as well.”

Mr Mian said Mahmood had brought “considerable shame” on his brothers – one a pharmacist, the other a teacher – by his actions.

Zarif Khan, lawyer for Faisal Khan, did not offer any verbal mitigation, instead relying on written material.