THE mother of one of the victims of the Bullfinch gang has described £16,500 compensation offered to her daughter as “utterly disgusting.”

Girl Five was plied with drink and drugs before being sexually exploited by Zeeshan Ahmed and Assad Hussein between the ages of 14 and 15.

The abuse happened between 2010 and January 2012.

She has been offered £16,500 by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority, a Government body which deals with compensation claims for blameless victims of violent crimes in England, Scotland and Wales.

But she rejected the offer on advice from her mother and her solicitor, David Greenwood of Switalskis.

Neither Girl Five nor her mother can be named for legal reasons.

Her mother said: “I think it is absolutely disgusting because it is a big, big drama in my life and in my daughter’s life. We got this offer and were expected to move on.

“She cannot move on or get a job and she has been self-harming due to trauma.

“I think it is taking the mickey. We will need to appeal and that will take another 12 months.

“If you can put yourself in her shoes and you need money to pay for things, you may want to take it.

“But if you are in a car crash and you got whiplash you would get an amount like that. £16,500 is not going to pay for the therapy she needs.”

Ahmed and Hussain were convicted of sexual activity with a child after a four-month trial at the Old Bailey in London in 2013.

Both men were sentenced to seven years in prison.

They were among seven men who were ordered to serve at least 95 years behind bars, with life sentences handed down to five of them.

Mr Greenwood said he believed Girl Five should receive a much higher amount of compensation.

He said: “I do not consider that £16,500 to be an appropriate award for the amount of harm that has been done to this girl.

“Her life chances have been almost destroyed and her capacity for work is similarly diminished.

“I think she should be compensated for lost earnings – which could be into the hundreds of thousands of pounds.

“We are able to ask for the decision to be reviewed and hopefully that will be successful. Even if it is not she could take action against the council or police.”

Mr Greenwood was also critical of the length of time it took for the compensation offer to be made.

He said: “We started this after the Old Bailey trial (which ended in May, 2013).

“It should really not have taken so long in the first place.”