by Julia Roberts

Three men who gang-raped a teenage girl were jailed for a total of more than 30 years today.

Salah Uddin, 22, Koyeas Miah, 23, and Kamal Hussain, 22, all looked visibly shocked as they were led from the dock at Maidstone Crown Court.

Judge Philip St John-Stevens told the trio they had behaved in a way "a pack of animals could not".

Uddin, who admitted one offence of rape against the 16-year-old girl, was jailed for eight-and-a-half years.

Miah and Hussain, who were convicted by a jury of two offences of rape, were each jailed for 11 years.

The court heard that married father-of-one Uddin was the "principal perpetrator" of the first rape, which occurred at a flat in Gravesend in March last year.

He then left the room, leaving Miah to force himself upon the girl. Hussain, however, never penetrated her. His role was to guard the door to the room where she was being subjected to her ordeal.

The girl repeatedly refused to have sex with them but her protestations were ignored, said Judge St John-Stevens.

"Each of you played your part, subjecting a young girl of 16 to an appalling, degrading ordeal - an ordeal which has had a profound effect on her and may live with her for many years.

"The three of you acted together in a way a pack of animals could not."

The judge added that when Uddin left the room "he knew exactly what was going to happen" to their "petrified" victim.

All three have been attacked in prison while on remand. Uddin, of Tarling Street, Whitechapel, east London, was stabbed, while Miah, of Thorold Road, Ilford, Essex, suffered substantial burns to the left side of his body after boiling water was thrown over him.

Hussain, of Second Avenue, Manor Park, east London, was also said to have been beaten and sustained head injuries.