Five men who were part of a “horrific” grooming gang that raped and sexually assaulted schoolgirls in a park have been jailed for between 18 months and 14 years.

The men targeted vulnerable girls in Saltwell Park, Gateshead, plying their victims with alcohol and cocaine.

After an eight-week trial at Newcastle crown court, the men were found guilty on 30 charges committed between 2014 and 2019 that included rape, sexual assault and blackmail.

DCI Graeme Barr, of Northumbria police, paid tribute to the victims, then aged between 13 and 16, who had displayed “bravery, composure and dignity” during an “extremely long” and complex investigation.

“The impact on them of what has happened to them cannot be measured,” Barr said. “They have endured the most horrific offending. Every child has the right to grow up safe from harm but for these girls their childhood was snatched from them in the cruellest of ways.”

A judge on Friday sentenced the four Romanian men and one Albanian man to jail terms of between 18 months and 14 years.

The men are:

Bogdan Gugiuman, 44, of Gateshead, who was found guilty of three counts of rape, and supplying a class A drug. He was jailed for 14 years.

Codrin Dura, 27, of Gateshead, who was found guilty of four counts of rape, four counts of sexual activity with a child, blackmail, attempted rape, serious sexual assault, supplying a class A drug, and arranging or facilitating commission of a child sex offence. He was jailed for 13 years.

Klaudio Aleksiu, 28, of Windsor, who was found guilty of rape. He was jailed for six years.

Leonard Paun, 23, of Gateshead, who was found guilty of five counts of rape, two counts of arranging or facilitating commission of a child sex offence, sexual activity with a child, sexual assault, supplying a class A drug, distributing photos of a child. He was jailed for five years and one month.

Stefan Ciuraru, 22, of Gateshead, who was found guilty of four counts of sexual assault, sexual activity with a child, and causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity. He was jailed for 18 months, given his youth at the time of the offending.

Barr said police began investigating after receiving complaints in April and May 2019 from two girls who did not know each other.

He said a complex abuse inquiry was launched in July that year as it became apparent that there was “a group of males known to each other” who were offending against several victims.

A significant effort was made to gain the confidence of victims, Barr said. “The offending ranged from sexual assaults, like touching, through to the most serious offences of rape, including rapes by multiple people against the same victim,” he said.