Terrifying rapist nicknamed ‘the Killer’ groomed underage girls with his brothers
Three brothers have been found guilty 18 years after they sexually abused four children and a woman after officers approached their suspected victims.
Led by their eldest brother Amar Ilyas, 41, the siblings were found guilty of a series of sexual offences and rapes across Sheffield.
Known as ‘Killer’ to the victims, Amar Ilyas bit one victim and used a gun and threats of gang rape to coerce others he abused.
Kamran Ilyas, 38, and Kamar Ilyas, 39, both of Sheffield, were found guilty of a total of five sexual offences against one of the girls that their brother had raped.
In 2018, officers contacted a woman from Rotherham who they identified as a possible a victim of child sexual abuse.
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The woman, now in her 30s, told police how she had been groomed and raped by Kamar, and then sexually abused by Amar and Kamran Ilyas, between 2004 and 2008.
Victim was only 12
Kamar Ilyas began phoning the woman in 2004, when she was 12 and he was 17.
Kamar encouraged her to meet him at locations around Sheffield, where he sexually abused and raped her.
He introduced the girl to his brother, Amar Ilyas, who then raped the girl every week over three harrowing years, in parks, houses and his car.
Amar gave the girl perfume and jewellery but the woman recalled being frightened that he might harm her family.
She said that on one occasion, Amar gave her a cigarette laced with crack cocaine before raping her.
He also showed the girl a handgun he kept in his car, before taking her into a wooded area and raping her.
During the period she was being repeatedly raped by Amar, the girl was also sexually abused by Kamran, who was just17 years old at the time, at a playground.
Officers identified another four women who had been sexually abused by Amar in their investigations.
A woman, who detectives approached as a possible witness, told them that Amar had tried to rape her when she was just 13.
The woman, now in her 30s, said she was staying over at a friend’s house one night when she woke up to find ‘Killer’ raping her.
When the girl tried to push Amar Ilyas off her, he told her to be quiet and continued his assault, only stopping only when another man entered the room.
A third woman who officers also approached as a possible witness told them that she met Amar Ilyas when she was around 13 and he was around 18.
At first the meetings were friendly but Amar encouraged the girl to drink and take drugs.
Then during one visit, Amar Ilyas raped the girl. He raped her a second time in her bedroom.
The fourth victim was around 18 when Amar raped her after seeing her out alone in Sheffield.
Amar Ilyas was with a group of men when he stopped the woman as she walked near a park one evening in 2004.
The woman, not wanting to speak with Amar, told him that she needed to catch a bus but he told her he would drive her instead.
Amar Ilyas then took the woman down an alleyway, out of sight of the other men.
He asked the woman to perform a sex act and when she refused, he threatened her that she would be forced to carry out sex acts on his friends. The woman felt she had no choice.
A fifth victim, 16, was raped by Amar after being introduced to him by Kamran.
Kamran met the girl at a shopping centre and drove her to a park where his older brother Amar lying in wait.
Kamar told the girl to get into the car, to be driven home by his brother.
When the girl got into Amar’s car, he bit her face then raped her.
At one point during the horrific attack, Amar grabbed a spanner from the car floor and threatened to hit the girl with it if she did not stop crying.
All three men were arrested in June 2020 by Operation Stovewood officers, and subsequently charged in March 2023.
Amar Ilyas was released on unconditional court bail during which time he travelled abroad to Pakistan.
He failed to appear for his trial and was instead tried in his absence.
On 24 September, following two-week trial, Amar Ilyas was convicted of all 20 sexual offences against him and a charge of possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear.
National Crime Agency Senior Investigating Officer Alan Hastings said: ‘Amar, Kamar and Kamran Ilyas remorselessly terrorised vulnerable girls from Rotherham and Sheffield.
‘Amar Ilyas’ victims were terrified of him and he mercilessly played on their fear to get them alone, sexually abuse them and ensure their silence afterwards.
‘Our investigation found Amar Ilyas targeted his victims opportunistically or groomed them extensively. In one case Amar Ilyas subjected a child to three years of relentless torment and rape. Her suffering was compounded by the sexual abuse his brothers also committed against her.
Kamran and Kamar Ilyas have been remanded in custody to appear at Sheffield Crown Court on 22 June, when they will be sentenced.
The NCA’s Operation Stovewood remains the single biggest investigation of its kind, looking at allegations of abuse in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013. To date 52 people – including the Ilyas brothers – have been convicted and received custodial sentences totalling more than 1,500 years.