Operation Stovewood was launched in the wake of the Alexis Jay report, which was published in 2014 and described how at least 1,400 children in Rotherham had been subjected to grooming and abuse by gangs of men between 1997 and 2013. It also outlined how police and social workers had failed to step in.
It is a National Crime Agency operation, and is the single largest law enforcement investigation into non-familial child sexual abuse in the UK.
Over 200 arrests have been made since the operation was launched.
*If you are concerned about a child and believe they are being exploited, please report it to South Yorkshire Police so they can help.
You can get in touch with them by calling 101, or going online and using the force's chat function or online portal at: https://smartcontact.southyorkshire.police.uk/
Call 999 if they are in immediate danger.
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1. Operation Stovewood convictions so far
Top row, left to right: Zaheer Iqbal; Sajid Ali; Riaz Makhmood; Asghar Bostan; Tony Chapman; Darren Hyett; Salah Ahmed El-Hakam; Mohammed Imran Ali Akhtar; Asif Ali and Nabeel Kurshid. Second row, left to right: Iqlak Yousaf; Tanweer Hussain Ali; Aftab Hussain; Abid Saddiq; Waseem Khaliq; Mohammed Ahsan; Ishtiaq Khaliq and Neil Cawton. Third row, left to right: Adam Ali; David Saynor; Abid Saddiq, Mohammed Amar, Mohammed Siyab, Mohammed Zameer Sadiq;Ramin Bari, Tahir Yassin, Yasser Ajaibe and Waleed Ali. Fourth row, left to right: Neil King; David Fish; Romauld Stefan Houphouet; Absolom Sigiyo; Mark Evans; Robert Evans; Jacek Brzozowski; Paul Richardson; Obaidullah Omari; Sageer Hussain. Fifth row, left to right:Kessur Ajaib; Mohammed Makhmood; Riyasth Hussain; Khurram Javed; Amer Khan and Shahid Hussain. Bottom row, left to right: Kamran Ilyas; Kamar Ilyas and Amar Ilyas | Adobe/NCA
2. Kamran, Kamar and Amar Ilyas: Sentenced in June 2026
A man nicknamed “Killer” and his two younger brothers have been convicted 18 years after they sexually abused four children and a woman in Sheffield. The men were found guilty of a series of sexual offences – including rapes – many of which were committed by eldest brother Amar Ilyas, 41, of Sheffield. Known as “Killer” to the victims, Amar Ilyas bit one victim and used a gun and threats of gang rape to coerce others he abused. He was convicted in September 2025, but this could only be reported, after the trial of his brothers concluded on March 9, 2026. Amar Ilyas was convicted of a total of 20 sex offences, and a firearm offence, in his absence after he fled the country and travelled to Pakistan. The three brothers were all charged in March 2023, before being released on court bail. Kamran Ilyas, 38, and Kamar Ilyas, 39, both of Atlow Close, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, were found guilty of a total of five sexual offences against one of the girls that their brother had raped. Kamran and Kamar Ilyas were sentenced to three and 10 years' imprisonment, respectively, on June 22, 2026. Amar Ilyas, who remains on-the-run, was sentenced to 27 years' custody, with a one-year extended licence period, in his absence during the same June 2026 hearing | NCA
3. Riyasth Hussain: Jailed for 20 years in February 2026
A rapist has faced justice 20 years after committing his crimes, following an investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA). In 2019, officers from Operation Stovewood, the NCA’s investigation into child sexual abuse in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013, arrested Riyasth Hussain, 45, after identifying he had twice raped a girl of around 13 years of age in the 2000s. The victim, now in her 30s, confirmed that she had been raped by a man who she knew by the nickname ‘Riaz’ but whose real name was Riyasth. Investigators subsequently identified this man as Hussain. The woman told officers that she first met Hussain between 2004 and 2006, during an incident in which she was being verbally abused by a man on a street in Rotherham. Hussain – then aged around 24 – had pulled up in a car and offered to help the girl. At a later date Hussain again stopped his car beside the girl on a street, and the victim agreed to get into the vehicle. Hussain then drove to an empty industrial estate, where he pulled the girl out of the car and raped her. Afterwards, Hussain drove off, leaving the victim on her own. Hussain raped the girl a second time after arranging to meet her. He again drove her to a desolate location – this time a field – where he raped her inside his car. The woman gave officers a description of the man, who she also recalled had connections to a local taxi firm, and the officers began carrying out enquiries to identify him. Meanwhile, as part of a separate enquiry, Operation Stovewood investigators also spoke to a woman who reported being raped by a man in 2008 when she was in her 20s. She told officers that while staying at a friend’s home one night she was disturbed by the sound of people arriving at the property. A short while afterwards, a group of people entered her room. Soon after, and without warning, a man that the woman did not know raped her. Hussain was found guilty of raping both victims on February 17, 2026, following a week-long trial at Sheffield Crown Court | NCA
4. Kessur Ajaib and Mohammed Makhmood: Jailed for 15 years, six months in December 2025
Two men who raped a vulnerable girl in Rotherham 25 years ago were jailed for a total of 15 and a half years on December 22, 2025. Kessur Ajaib, then aged 44, and Mohammed Makhmood, then aged 43, both of Rotherham, were aged between 18 and 20 at the time of offending. Ajaib and Makhmood raped the victim, aged around 14, over a period of more than two years, starting in 1999. The girl was attacked by Ajaib while out in Rotherham. Ajaib made conversation with the girl and gave her alcohol, before luring her to an alleyway in a residential area where he raped her. Ajaib was sentenced to eight years and six months in prison for the rape and a further three years, to run concurrently, for indecently assaulting the same girl. Makhmood carried out his attack when he found the girl waiting at a bus stop one evening. He invited her to smoke a cigarette with him, then led her to a nearby graveyard where he raped her. Makhmood received a seven-year prison sentence for the offence. Both men must sign the sex offenders register for life. Specially trained officers from Operation Stovewood – the NCA’s investigation into allegations of sexual abuse in Rotherham, which commenced in 2014 – contacted the victim after identifying she may have been sexually abused as a child. The woman told officers about what the men had done to her as a girl, and investigators subsequently identified corroborating evidence. Officers arrested Ajaib and Makhmood and then charged them in February 2024. On 23 July 2025, both were found guilty of raping the girl, following a trial at Sheffield Crown Court in which a co-defendant was also convicted of raping a second girl. | NCA