Five men from Eastern Europe have been jailed for a combined total of nearly 40 years after being convicted of the horrific sexual exploitation of vulnerable UK teens in Gateshead. The grooming gang, consisting of four Romanians and one Albanian, targeted six girls aged between 13 and 16 in Saltwell Park, plying them with alcohol and cocaine before subjecting them to rapes and assaults between 2014 and 2019.
This case, sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court as of 13 December 2025, underscores the persistent threat of grooming gangs in the UK.
