MEMBERS of a grooming gang who preyed on teenage girls got £611,204 in legal aid, it has emerged.

Details of the funding for the Rotherham monsters comes days after Labour went back on its abuse inquiry promises.

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Seven men were jailed for a combined 101 years in 2018 for grooming and abusing five girls in the South Yorkshire town from 1998 to 2005.

Ringleader Mohammed Imran Ali Akhtar, 43, who was sentenced to 23 years in jail, got £143,696 in legal aid.

His total does not include costs for a separate trial last year in which he got a 12-year term for raping a girl of 13 after plying her with booze and drugs.

Five other defendants, aged from 40 to 45 and jailed for between ten and 20 years, each received between £60,147 and £99,168 in legal aid.

The seventh, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had £90,849. All bar one of the gang were convicted of rape — and one of them fell asleep in court as impact statements put forward by the victims were read out.

News of the gang’s legal aid bill comes after the Government was accused of axing local child rape inquiries to appease Pakistani voters.

Former Equalities Commission chief Sir Trevor Phillips called ministers “utterly shameful” for watering down a series of investigations.

The Home Office said last week that a £5million fund for five inquiries into grooming gangs in Oldham and other areas will instead be diverted to projects such as victims’ panels.

Yesterday, a spokeswoman added: “Any claims that the funding has been watered down, or that we are backing down from supporting local inquiries, is patently false.

“A flexible approach to funding will allow us to support more than five inquiries.”

The Legal Aid Agency said cash is not paid to defendants but to their legal representatives “to ensure access to justice and, in criminal cases, to ensure a fair trial”.