Nine boys face jail for gang rape of girl, 14

NINE schoolboy rapists face years behind bars for carrying out a punishment attack on a 14-year-old girl.

The boys were aged as young as 13 when they gang-raped their victim, who was snatched from the street before being marched to a flat in Hackney on 30 April last year.

One 16-year-old ordered she should be put through the ordeal for allegedly insulting their leader's girlfriend, Snaresbrook crown court was told.

The terrified victim was then led to another address nearby, where the nine youths raped her. One of them told the girl, now aged 16: "I can't help you now, I'm with my boys."

Six of the teenagers were today found guilty of every charge they faced - 13 counts of rape, kidnap and false imprisonment. Three others pleaded guilty to rape, kidnap and false imprisonment before the six-week trial. An order prohibits publishing their identities.

Following the verdicts, at least three defendants stormed from the dock.

After ordering them to return, Judge Wendy Joseph QC said: "You have each been convicted of a terrible series of crimes and the only sentence I can pass will be one of custody. In the meantime you will remain in custody." Judge Joseph ordered pre-sentence reports.