Three people convicted over the sexual exploitation of teenage girls in Rhyl have asked the Court of Appeal to reconsider their cases.
Ringleader Mustafa Iqbal, Mohammed Arshad and Ziaullah Badshah have each lodged applications for permission to appeal. They were among four men and a woman jailed for a combined 81 years in September 2026.
Who is appealing
- Mustafa Iqbal, 43, of Trellewelyn Road, Rhyl – challenging both his conviction and the length of his 30-year sentence
- Mohammed Arshad, 36, of Clifton Grove, Rhyl – challenging his conviction, for which he was jailed for 19 years
- Ziaullah Badshah, 25, of Brighton Road, Rhyl – challenging his conviction, for which he was jailed for 17 years
What happens next
Judges at the Court of Appeal will now examine the applications. They will weigh the grounds each applicant or their legal team has put forward, which can include points of law or new evidence.
If permission is granted, the cases will be prepared for a full appeal hearing in front of two or three Appeal Court judges.
The offending
The gang were convicted in August 2026 of offences involving the exploitation and abuse of three teenage girls. The girls were aged between 14 and 16 at the time.
The offences were committed in Rhyl and the surrounding area between April 2022 and March 2024. They took place in cars, in homes and at business premises in Denbighshire.
Sarah Gray and Jaswinder Singh were also jailed as members of the gang.
The convictions
- 4 counts of Rape
- 3 counts of Conspiracy to require a person to perform compulsory labour
- 3 counts of Sexual assault
- 3 counts of Causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent
- 2 counts of Conspiracy to traffic
- 1 count of Conspiracy to supply cannabis to another
- 1 count of Conspiracy to supply cocaine to another
- 1 count of Supplying cannabis to another
- 1 count of Arranging or facilitating the travel of another person with a view to exploitation
- 1 count of Breaching a slavery/trafficking risk order
- 3 counts of Rape
- 2 counts of Conspiracy to traffic
- 2 counts of Conspiracy to require a person to perform compulsory labour
- 1 count of Supplying cannabis to another
- 2 counts of Rape
- 2 counts of Conspiracy to traffic
- 2 counts of Conspiracy to require a person to perform compulsory labour
- 1 count of Supplying cannabis to another
The judge’s remarks
When the gang were sentenced, the judge said the vulnerable girls had been seen as “easy prey”.
The judge said Iqbal, who was also a drug dealer, had an “apparently uncontrollable” and “voracious” sexual appetite.
The judge also said Gray had “sold her soul” to Iqbal so she could get cocaine, in exchange for allowing him to rape one of the girls in her house.
