Landmark court ruling sees taxi driver rapist made to pay rape gang survivor

In February 2018 taxi driver Ashgar Bostan was jailed for 9 years at Sheffield Crown Court for raping “LIZ”*, a Rotherham girl who was 14 at the time. In a statement to the court, she has said that her childhood and teenage years were “destroyed” by Bostan and that her dreams of a normal adult life were wrecked by the damage he had done to her. 

Bostan was not severely punished, being released from prison last year having served just half of his sentence, partly in the comfort of an open prison. 

Now the High Court has awarded “LIZ” a massive £425, 924.09 in damages after she took ground-breaking civil action against Bostan. It made an anonymity order that she should be known as “LIZ”. 

“With the help of my friends at Hearts of Oak and other supporters like Jayne Senior, and my solicitor Robin Tilbrook, I sued my rapist Bostan to at last get real justice,” said LIZ. “Lord Pearson and Lord Vinson raised the money for the case and I can’t thank them and their friends enough”. 

“But I also did it to show that, having been badly let down by South Yorkshire Police and Rotherham Council, we survivors can take things into our own hands and fight back for real justice,” she said. 

Baroness Cox, Secretary of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Honour Based Abuse said “I have met with many grooming gang survivors over the years and I am delighted that LIZ has been awarded this financial justice. Her great legal victory should bring hope to many other survivors.” 

Peter Mcilvenna, director of the Free Speech Campaign Group ‘Hearts Of Oak’, said: “LIZ has been admirably courageous to see the legal process through to this victory.” 

“Other grooming gang survivors should take heart from her success and contact us at Hearts of Oak,” said Peter. “We would like her ground-breaking civil action to be just the start of a wider campaign to get compensation for more victims and to punish more grooming gang rapists where it hurts.” 

*not her real name