Notorious Rotherham grooming gang rapist could be FREED early for ‘good behaviour' after bid to move from jail

VICTIMS are outraged after it emerged a notorious Rotherham grooming gang rapist who tried to escape justice by fleeing to Pakistan could be freed early after a bid to move to an open prison
Basharat Hussain was part of a grooming gang jailed in 2017 for the "systematic" sexual abuse of teenage girls in the town - including brave Sammy Woodhouse, whose evidence
first helped expose the
scandal.
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Basharat Hussain is being considered for a move to an open prison
Credit: Enterprise News and Pictures
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Sammy who gave evidence against Basharat blasted the move as 'disgusting'
Credit: Rex
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Sammy gave birth to a son at 15 after being raped by Basharat's brother, fellow gang member Arshid
Credit: SUPPLIED
Basharat was put behind bars for 25 years after he was found guilty of 15 charges including rape and abduction. He was also convicted of an additional indecent assault and received a further seven-year sentence, to run concurrently.
But now, Basharat is being considered for a move to an open prison, in a move Sammy has blasted as "disgusting".
The Sun understands that Basharat will be eligible to be moved into open conditions because he is three years away from his conditional release date. With time spent on remand, Basharat will have served over 50 percent of his sentence in three years - making him eligible for release.
A Prison Service spokesperson said: 'Offenders must pass thorough risk assessments before they can be moved to an open prison and if they break the rules they will be immediately returned to closed conditions.'
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Prisoners must pass a three-step step good behaviour test before the transfer is approved - including proving they are at low risk of absconding, that they have reduced their risk of harming members of the public and can prove they have a "wholly persuasive case" for the move.
Sick Basharat was jailed alongside his brothers Arshid "Mad Ash" Hussain and Banaras "Bono" Hussain in 2017 in a case that made British history for handing out the highest ever sentences for child sexual exploitation.
The three men were part of a vile gang that groomed and raped children for nearly 20 years.
However Banaras Hussain was also released early back in December 2025, after serving only nine years of a 19 year sentence.
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Victim turned-campaigner Sammy, who has a son born from being raped by Arshid age 15 and gave evidence against all three men - hit out at the latest move.
"I received a message from a victim liaison officer asking for my views on Bash being moved to an open prison, that's how I found out about it," she told The Sun.
"It's absolutely insane - he's only served eight years of a 25 year sentence. He should serve his whole sentence or what's the point of giving it out?
"I met Bash before his brother Ash - my main abuser - and he did kiss me and try to groom me but I ran off. But he abused me friends.
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"So even though there was no charges against Bash for me, I was still cross examined by his barrister. I gave perpetrator names, victims' names, evidence, everything, to the police about all of them.
"The thing with Bash is that before the trial he fled to Pakistan and tried to force one of the main witnesses against him to go with him. They had to force him to return for the trial.
'DANGEROUS MEN'
"While I was being exploited, Ash took me to this flat and told me that Bash and another man had killed someone there by giving them clear cut heroin - and he went into detail and showed me where everything happened. Now he might have just been making it up to scare me, or he might have told the truth. I told police everything so they could check if any bodies had been found there, but they told me they weren't even looking into it.
"It's disgusting - these are dangerous men and we've all been let down time and time again.
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"I'm so p****d off with the whole thing - when all this went to trial they had over a hundred charges between the three brothers.
"But so many charges were taken off because they said there were so many offences and all I got told is 'There's too many charges - but it doesn't matter because they are all going to be in prison for a long time'.
'WHAT WAS IT ALL FOR?'
"So then at the end of the trial I was thinking, 'Well it's ok, they've pretty much been put away for life or a very long time' only to be told now he might be getting out soon, it makes me think 'What was it all for?'
"Obviously what came from that trial, and from me exposing the grooming gangs in Rotherham, it changed the whole country, so that keeps me positive about it, but if this was an ordinary case involving just me and they were now getting out, if I could go back in time I wouldn't have done it - I wouldn't have given evidence against them. It wouldn't have been worth it."
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On the government's websites Category D or open prisons, where Basharat is likely to be moved, are described as having "minimal security and allow eligible prisoners to spend most of their day away from the prison on licence to carry out work, education or for other resettlement purposes",
Sammy, who has received death threats over her involvement in the case, which she has reported to police, says she feels "unsafe" knowing Basharat will likely be allowed in and out of open prison.
"I won't get told which open prison he will be moved to and I won't be told where he is living when he's out, but I have to tell them where I am," Sammy, who first reported about Basharat's prison move on her
It just feels like the entire system protects rapists rather than us.
Sammy Woodhouse
"It was the same when Bono [Banneras] got released before Christmas I had to give over my details because they aren't allowed to contact me or my family - but I'm not allowed to know any of theirs. I had to tell them my grandchildren's names - it felt like a breach of my privacy.
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"When I asked what prison they are in, they say 'We can't tell you because of data protection, when I asked where Bono was going to be living 'We can't tell you', whatever I ask it's the same 'We can't tell you'. It just feels like the entire system protects rapists rather than us."
Sammy, who was groomed from the age of 14, has been campaigning against grooming for years and is currently fighting for children born of rape to be considered victims of crime in the eyes of the law.
She says she has recently had family members of her abuser contacting her family for pictures of her grandson.
"I recently spoke to a solicitor because his family has been contacting members of my family, and he told me that if they went to court and sought a contact order they could gain access to see my grandchild," she said.
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"People might think, 'That would never happen, they wouldn't let the family of her rapist see her grandchild' but it could happen unless the law is changed properly."
GROOMING TRIAL
Sammy's main abuser Arshid, of Goole, was jailed for 35 years after being convicted of 23 of the 28 charges he faced, including indecent assault, rape, abduction, false imprisonment and making threats to kill.
Banaras pleaded guilty before the trial to 10 charges, including two counts of rape and six of indecent assault and received a lesser sentence of 19 years.
A month-long trial at Sheffield Crown Court heard how the men "sexualised" their victims and in some cases subjected them to acts of a "degrading and violent nature".
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Known around the South Yorkshire town by their nicknames of Mad Ash, Bash and Bono - the three brothers were drug dealers who ruled the roost using violence and fear, the court heard.
The grooming took place in houses, lock-up garages, churchyards and public spaces across the town, including Clifton Park.
The victims were forced to perform sex acts, often on several men at a time, and also forced to store guns and drugs for the gang.
Rotherham grooming gang victim Sammy Woodhouse says her rapist wants child visiting rights
Their uncle Qurban Ali was also found guilty of conspiracy to rape and jailed for 10 years.
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Back in 2015, Basharat skipped bail and fled to Pakistan after being arrested on a number of offences.
A 30-year-old woman - who said Basharat left her fearing for her life on one occasion after threatening to shoot her - says she was driven to an airport and expected to board a flight, but could not go through with it.
She claims Hussain had trapped her in a physically, psychologically and sexually abusive relationship from the age of 15, during which he made several threats to kill her.
She told police in an interview: 'I never wanted to go to Pakistan. His cousin drove me to the airport but when I got there I couldn't do it.
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"I just couldn't go because I knew what my life would be, there.'
The woman, who cannot be named, also claims 'controlling' Hussain told her how to dress and behave during years of terror.
He said he once locked her in a flat for two days after dragging her home from a night out in Barnsley with friends.
The woman says Hussain once even sent her a text message telling her 'point blank' that he was going to shoot her.
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GROOMING SCANDAL
It comes after it was revealed that members of the same grooming gang who preyed on teenage girls got £611,204 in legal aid.
Details of the funding for the Rotherham monsters comes days after Labour went back on its abuse inquiry promises.
Seven men were jailed for a combined 101 years in 2018 for grooming and abusing five girls in the South Yorkshire town from 1998 to 2005.
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His total does not include costs for a separate trial last year in which he got a 12-year term for raping a girl of 13 after plying her with booze and drugs.
Labour's pathetic response to grooming gangs
By Tony Parsons
THIS Labour government never looked more pathetically gutless than in its response to the grooming gangs.
The systematic and nationwide sexual exploitation of vulnerable young white girls by organised gangs of largely Pakistani men is the greatest scandal of our time.
And Labour doesn't want to know. In January, the Government announced a £5million fund for five local inquiries into grooming gangs.
That was an obscenely inadequate response to mass child sex abuse.
These atrocities played out in scores of cities and towns for decades.
Councils that failed vulnerable children can't be allowed to investigate their own failures.
Now, that already derisory response has been watered down even further.
Forty-five minutes before the House of Commons broke for the Easter holidays,
At the discretion of the councils involved, that £5million fund can now be spent on other projects.
This is more than political cowardice. It stinks of a cover-up. The scandal of the grooming gangs screams out for a statutory inquiry where witnesses are made to give evidence.
This is exactly what we had with the Grenfell Tower fire inquiry, the Covid inquiry and the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry.
A formal investigation, conducted within a legal framework. Anything less is a cop-out. Anything less is running from the ugly truth.
Five other defendants, aged from 40 to 45 and jailed for between ten and 20 years, each received between £60,147 and £99,168 in legal aid.
The seventh, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had £90,849.
All bar one of the gang were convicted of rape — and one of them fell asleep in court as impact statements put forward by the victims were read out.
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News of the gang's legal aid bill comes after the Government was accused of axing local child rape inquiries to appease Pakistani voters.
Former Equalities Commission chief Sir Trevor Phillips called ministers 'utterly shameful' for watering down a series of investigations.
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Sammy, pictured here as a school girl, was groomed and exploited from the age of 14
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Protests against the grooming gangs in 2015
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Sammy has been campaigning against child exploitation for years
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Arshid Hussain, Basharat Hussain and Bannaras Hussain were all jailed for their heinous crimes
Credit: PA:Press Association
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At least 1,400 girls suffered abuse in Rotherham
Credit: Alamy

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Advertisement Read More Speaking on GB News, Mr Farage agreed that he was also beginning to have 'doubts' about the case. He said: 'I have a feeling, actually, Jeremy Hunt might be right about the Lucy Letby case. "I'm just beginning to get more and more doubts about that issue." Cheshire Constabulary is still conducting a review of deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies at the neonatal units of the Countess of Chester and Liverpool Women's Hospital during Letby's time as a nurse from 2012 to 2016. Advertisement Most read in The Sun The force have also launched another probe into allegations of corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter at the Countess of Chester Hospital. Meanwhile Lady Justice Thirlwall is due to publish in November the findings from the public inquiry into how the former nurse was able to commit her crimes. Argentina's Lucy Letby' in court after murdering 5 newborns & trying to kill 8 more in chillingly similar case to UK's baby killer The Sun revealed earlier this year what Letby's own parents, Jonathan, 79, and Susan Letby, 65, said about the case. In one correspondence, seen by The Sun, Letby's parents reveal they "firmly believe" their daughter's convictions will be "the biggest miscarriage of justice in British history". Advertisement They also said they're pleased "public opinion is beginning to sway" in her favour "at last". 'FRESH' EVIDENCE This all comes after Letby's lawyers say they have Mark McDonald told reporters the convicted child serial killer has "a new hope" as he visited the Birmingham offices of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). He said the new evidence "blows the case out the water". Advertisement He was there to Also passed to the CCRC, which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, was a separate report from seven medics which claims the results of insulin tests on two infants, which a jury concluded Mr McDonald said in April: "Today I've put in 23 expert reports from 24 experts from across the realm covering eight separate countries," he said. "Those expert reports completely demolish the prosecution's case that was put before the jury. Advertisement "It is now hoped that the CCRC will not take long to look at this evidence and refer it back to the Court of Appeal. "These reports show that no crime was committed... This blows the case out the water. The charges Letby was convicted on in full Child A, allegation of murder. The Crown said Letby injected air intravenously into the bloodstream of the baby boy. COUNT 1 GUILTY . Child B, allegation of attempted murder. The Crown said Letby attempted to murder the baby girl, the twin sister of Child A, by injecting air into her bloodstream. COUNT 2 GUILTY . Child C, allegation of murder. Prosecutors said Letby forced air down a feeding tube and into the stomach of the baby boy. COUNT 3 GUILTY . Child D, allegation of murder. The Crown said air was injected intravenously into the baby girl. COUNT 4 GUILTY . Child E, allegation of murder. The Crown said Letby murdered the twin baby boy with an injection of air into the bloodstream and also deliberately caused bleeding to the infant. COUNT 5 GUILTY . Child F, allegation of attempted murder. Letby was said by prosecutors to have poisoned the twin brother of Child E with insulin. COUNT 6 GUILTY . Child G, three allegations of attempted murder. The Crown said Letby targeted the baby girl by overfeeding her with milk and pushing air down her feeding tube. COUNT 7 GUILTY, COUNT 8 GUILTY, COUNT 9 NOT GUILTY. Child H, two allegations of attempted murder. Prosecutors said Letby sabotaged the care of the baby girl in some way which led to two profound oxygen desaturations. COUNT 10 NOT GUILTY, COUNT 11 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT. Child I, allegation of murder. The prosecution said Letby killed the baby girl at the fourth attempt and had given her air and overfed her with milk. COUNT 12 GUILTY. Child J, allegation of attempted murder. No specific form of harm was identified by the prosecution but they said Letby did something to cause the collapse of the baby girl. COUNT 13 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT. Child K, allegation of attempted murder. The prosecution said Letby compromised the baby girl as she deliberately dislodged a breathing tube. COUNT 14 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT. Child L, allegation of attempted murder. The Crown said the nurse poisoned the twin baby boy with insulin. COUNT 15 GUILTY. Child M, allegation of attempted murder. Prosecutors said Letby injected air into the bloodstream of Child L's twin brother. 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"I'm very confident that we're going to get back to the Court of Appeal." Advertisement Asked how Letby "is doing", he said: "I don't talk about Lucy herself as a person but to say this: She's read all the reports, she's seen the reports, we have a new hope now. "A new hope that, in fact, the truth will come out. So yes, she has a new hope." Last month, lawyers for the families of Letby's victims rubbished the international panel's findings as "full of analytical holes" and "a rehash" of the defence case heard at trial. Mr McDonald also gave the CCRC a separate report on the insulin cases of Child F and Child L from seven experts including two consultant neonatalogists, a retired professor in forensic toxicology and a paediatric endocrinologist. Advertisement Their report summary concluded the jury was misled in a number of "important areas" including medical and evidential facts, and that key information on the insulin testing procedure was not submitted. It added that the biomechanical test used in both cases "can give rise to falsely high insulin results" due to the presence of antibodies which can interfere with the outcome. On Thursday, Mr McDonald released the independent panel's case summaries of all 17 babies that were said by trial prosecutors to have been deliberately harmed on the Countess of Chester Hospital's neonatal unit. The 14-strong panel concluded that no criminal offences had been committed at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2015 and 2016 and instead provided alternative causes of deterioration. Advertisement Among the findings of the panel, working pro bono for Letby's defence team, was that baby boy Child C died following ineffective resuscitation from a collapse after an "acute small bowel obstruction" that went unrecognised, rather than from a deliberate administration of air. 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BOMBSHELL EMAIL Meanwhile, an explosive email has also been found which appears to cast more doubt on the prosecution claims that Letby was caught "red-handed". A new email - sent on May 4 2017 to colleagues at the Countess of Chester Hospital - suggests there could be discrepancies over the chronology of events. The memo, revealed in April, is a significant boost to Letby's legal fight to overturn her convictions. Advertisement Dr Ravi Jayaram is the only hospital staff member to have claimed to see Letby act suspiciously and link her behaviour directly to babies' deaths. Medical experts provided case summaries on all 17 babies from the Letby trial An international panel of medical experts has provided case summaries on all 17 babies who featured in the 10-month trial of Lucy Letby. The 14-strong panel concluded that no criminal offences had been committed at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2015 and 2016 and instead provided alternative causes of deterioration: - Baby 1 (known as Child A in the trial): The prosecution said the boy was murdered by an injection of air into the bloodstream which caused an air embolism where bubbles form and block the blood supply. The panel found no evidence of air embolism and said the child had died from thrombosis, where a blood clot forms in a vessel. - Baby 2 (Child B): The prosecution said Letby attempted to murder Child A's twin sister by also injecting air into her bloodstream. The panel found no evidence of air embolism and said the child had collapsed from thrombosis. - Baby 3 (Child C): The prosecution said the boy was murdered with air forced down his feeding tube and into his stomach. The panel said the child died following ineffective resuscitation from a collapse after an "acute small bowel obstruction" that went unrecognised. - Baby 4 (Child D): The prosecution said the girl was murdered by an injection of air into the bloodstream. The panel found no evidence of air embolism and ruled the child died of systemic sepsis, pneumonia and disseminated intravascular coagulation (blood clotting). Issues with failures to give relevant antibiotics were also identified. - Baby 5 (Child E): The Crown said Letby murdered the twin boy with an injection of air into the bloodstream and she also deliberately caused bleeding to the infant. The panel said there was no evidence of air embolism and bleeding was caused either by a lack of oxygen pre-birth or a congenital blood vessel condition. - Baby 6 (Child F): The prosecution said Letby attempted to murder Child E's twin brother by administering insulin. The panel ruled that the child's insulin levels and insulin/C-peptide ratio did not prove that exogenous insulin was used and were within the norm for pre-term infants. It added that there was poor medical management of the child's prolonged hypoglycaemia. - Baby 7 (Child G): The prosecution said Letby attempted to murder the girl by overfeeding her with milk and forcing air down her feeding tube. The panel said there was no evidence to support air injection into the stomach or overfeeding. The infant's vomiting and clinical deterioration was due to infection, it found. - Baby 8 (Child H): Jurors cleared Letby of one count of attempted murder and failed to reach a verdict on a second count. Prosecutors said the nurse sabotaged the girl's care in some way which led to two profound oxygen desaturations. The panel said the deteriorations were due to medical mismanagement of a tension pneumothorax where air is trapped between the lung and chest wall. - Baby 9 (Child I): The prosecution said Letby murdered the infant by injecting air into her bloodstream and stomach. The panel said it found no evidence of air injections and that the baby died of breathing complications caused by respiratory distress syndrome and chronic lung disease. - Baby 10 (Child J): Jurors could not reach a verdict on an allegation of attempted murder. No specific form of harm was identified by the prosecution but they said Letby did something to cause the collapse of the girl. The panel said the deterioration was caused by sepsis and there was no evidence to support malicious airway obstruction. - Baby 11 (Child K): The prosecution said Letby attempted to murder the girl by deliberately dislodging her breathing tube. Among its findings the panel said there was no evidence to support a dislodged endotracheal tube (ETT) and the clinical deterioration was caused by use of an undersized ETT. - Baby 12 (Child L): The Crown said the nurse poisoned the boy with insulin. The panel said the infant's insulin-related levels were within the norm for pre-term infants and there was no evidence of deliberate administration. - Baby 13 (Child M): Prosecutors said Letby attempted to murder Child L's twin brother by injecting air into his bloodstream. The panel said there was no evidence of air embolism and his collapse was caused by sepsis or a heart problem. - Baby 14 (Child N): The Crown said the boy was the victim of attempted murder by inflicted trauma in his throat and an air injection into his bloodstream. The panel said there was no air embolism and it was likely his blood oxygen levels dropped due to his haemophilia condition or routine cares, which was "exacerbated" by repeated attempts to insert a breathing tube. - Baby 15 (Child O): The prosecution said Letby murdered the triplet boy by injecting air into his bloodstream and inflicting trauma to his liver. The panel said he died from liver damage caused by traumatic delivery, resulting in bleeding in the abdomen and profound shock. - Baby 16 (Child P): Prosecutors said Letby murdered Child O's brother by injecting him with air. The panel said there was no evidence to support that mechanism and that he died from a collapsed lung that was "suboptimally managed". - Baby 17 (Child Q): Jurors could not reach a verdict on an allegation of attempted murder. The Crown said Letby attempted to murder the boy by injecting liquid, and possibly air, down his feeding tube. The panel said there was no evidence to support air injection into the stomach and the child deteriorated because he had early symptoms of a serious gastrointestinal problem, or sepsis. He testified that the nurse was seen standing over Baby K's cot as the infant's condition deteriorated. Taking the stand, the doctor said Letby failed to call for help as the newborn's condition declined, insisting the nurse had virtually been caught "red handed". But prior to the start of the police investigation, Dr Jayaram wrote in an email to colleagues: "At time of deterioration ... Staff nurse Letby at incubator and called Dr Jayaram to inform of low saturations." Advertisement The revelatory memo appears to contradict previous testimony, with the evidence not making it into documents handed to cops before the start of the investigation. In the newly released email, Dr Jayaram also suggested Baby K's fragile premature condition was instead the cause of death, saying: "Baby subsequently deteriorated and eventually died, but events around this would fit with explainable events associated with extreme prematurity." The note sees him suggest that the baby's death was explained by issues associated with extreme prematurity. Appearing at the 2024 trial, the doctor framed her behaviour as suspicious, telling the court: "Lucy Letby was stood next to the incubator. Advertisement "She wasn't looking at me. She didn't have her hands in the incubator." Asked by prosecutor Nick Johnson KC whether he had "any call for help from Lucy Letby?", he replied: "No, not at all. "I was surprised that the alarm was not going off, although my priority was (Baby K) and I didn't question it at the time.'In retrospect, I was surprised that help was not called, given (Baby K) was a 25-week gestation baby and her saturations were dropping." However, at the recent Thirlwall Inquiry, the doctor expressed regret at not raising the alarm over the nurse's behaviour sooner Advertisement He explained: "I lie awake thinking about this ... I should have been braver." 6 Human rights barrister Mark McDonald Credit: PA 6 Dr Ravi Jayaram was the only medical witness at Letby's two trials who was able to point to behaviour directly linking her to babies' deaths Credit: Rex 6 Letby, 35, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life orders Credit: AFP Advertisement