Three men have been jailed for luring a 13-year-old girl back to a London flat and raping her.
The victim left her home on September 30 last year and travelled into London, where she encountered the three defendants at a tube station in Hammersmith.
The men lured the 13-year-old back to a flat in Wood Lane Estates, Shepherd’s Bush where she was raped.
Paul Maxwell, 24, who lived at the flat, was jailed for 12-and-a-half years on Friday (October 11), after a three week trial at Southwark Crown Court.
Kayon Bhola, 29, of no fixed address and Jeremiah Jackson, 24, of Longford Court, Acton, were both jailed for 11 years.
Reading out an impact statement in court, the victim said she was caught “alone and vulnerable” on the day of the attack.
She added: “I have gone over the date a million times thinking of what I could have done differently to change the outcome of what happened to me.
“No matter what I change, it would’ve ended the same way.
“This is because these three men, fully grown men, knew exactly what they were going to do as soon as they saw me at Hammersmith.”
Detective Constable Will Murphy, who led the investigation, described the attack as a “despicable crime”, and said that the trio will now face the consequences of their “horrendous actions”.
He added: “I would like to thank the victim for her ongoing support in this case and for her extreme bravery in coming forward and reporting this to police.
“This has been a challenging investigation, however due to the dedicated efforts of my team we were able to secure convictions. I hope the victim feels that justice has been served.”
The three men were convicted after CCTV showed the group travelling from the station towards the flat.
In-depth phone analysis also revealed a short video clip of the three men carrying out their attack.
All three men were found guilty of rape on July 22, with Maxwell also convicted of an additional count.
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