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Tributes were paid to the ‘extraordinary courage’ of two women who were raped and abused as children in Rochdale, as they laid bare the horrendous consequences of their ordeals.

Girl A and Girl B, as they are known, gave emotional statements at a sentencing hearing where seven men are due to face justice for their crimes against the girls. Girl A said the abuse had ‘destroyed’ her life, while Girl B said she had felt ‘shame and guilt all my life’ for what her abusers did to her.

But Girl A described the guilty verdicts was ‘another step forward to get my life back’, while Girl B said that ‘a massive weight lifted off me’ when she learned of the convictions. Girl B read out her statement in court from the witness box, and looked on at the defendants as she movingly spoke. J

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