The three brothers jailed on Monday (left-right): Kamar Ilyas, 39, Kamran Ilyas, 38, and Amar Ilyas, 41 – Crown Prosecution Service
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A 41-year-old man who escaped to Pakistan before being convicted of sexually assaulting vulnerable girls as young as 12 has been sentenced in absentia to 27 years in prison. Amar Ilyas, known by the alias “Killer,” preyed on young victims in Sheffield nearly two decades ago, using threats of gang rape, brandishing a fake firearm, and even biting one girl during attacks, investigators said.
At Monday’s sentencing, Judge Peter Hampton commended the bravery of the five women who testified, stating their accounts had finally been acknowledged and trusted by the jury. He sharply criticized Ilyas for fleeing to another continent while on bail, calling it an act of “cowardice.”
The judge remarked that Ilyas had “taken the coward’s path” and continued attempting to influence the legal process from abroad, having his lawyers highlight community contributions while avoiding accountability in a foreign jurisdiction. Judge Hampton urged UK authorities to pursue every available option to secure his return.
According to National Crime Agency (NCA) detectives, one victim endured three years of repeated sexual abuse beginning at age 12. In September 2025, Ilyas was found guilty of four counts of rape and one count of sexual abuse. His brothers, Kamar and Kamran Ilyas, were earlier convicted in connection with the abuse of one of the same victims. On Monday, Kamar received a 10-year sentence and Kamran was sentenced to three years.
Judge Hampton told the defendants their victims had been deliberately targeted, sexualized, and in some cases subjected to degrading and violent acts. He noted the girls were at a vulnerable stage—new to adolescence and easily influenced by the attention they received. Some were groomed, others intimidated or coerced, and some were violently raped. He emphasized the extraordinary courage it took for the survivors to come forward.
One victim, in a statement read in court, said she had long suffered the consequences of the abuse while feeling silenced and disbelieved. “They exploited my vulnerability and stole my childhood,” she said, adding that the trauma “has carved itself into the foundation of my life” and continues to shape every year since.
Amar Ilyas was convicted of multiple serious offences committed when he was between 19 and 22, including five counts of raping a child under 13, nine counts of rape, two counts of sexual activity with a child, three counts of indecent assault, and one firearms-related charge. Kamar Ilyas, now 39, was convicted of one count of child rape and two counts of sexual activity with a minor, committed when he was 17 to 20. Kamran Ilyas, 38, was convicted of two counts of sexual activity with a child, committed when he was 17.
The brothers were arrested as part of the NCA’s Operation Stovewood, which investigates historical child sexual exploitation in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013—though these crimes occurred primarily in Sheffield. The operation, the largest of its kind in the UK, has led to over 50 convictions, identified more than 1,100 child victims, and is estimated to have cost around £90 million.
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