A gang of perverted "animals" are facing long prison stretches for the horrific gang rape of a 15-year-old girl they had drugged and imprisoned.

The three men repeatedly attacked the schoolgirl in a squalid flat after first spiking her drink.

As gang members Amber Liaquat, 21, Yasin Ramzan, 19, and Robbani Miah, 18, of all of Newcastle's West End, were told they face hefty sentences for the rape, the full horror of their actions was revealed.

Det Insp Max Black of Newcastle West End CID said: "This was a gang rape on a defenceless girl.

"The men who took part in this can only be described as animals.

"And although another youth, aged 17, was only convicted of abducting the youngster and carrying her from one flat to another, in the eyes of the victim and the police he played just as much a part in her ordeal."

After their convicttion Judge Guy Whitburn lifted an order banning the identification of the youth during his trial.

Ruman Abu, 17, of Derwentwater Road, Gateshead, had denied abduction but was convicted after his trial.

And Judge Whitburn, told him: "Be warned. You are facing a substantial period of imprisonment."

All the adults are in custody awaiting sentence and Abu was sent to a hostel before his sentence.

A fifth man, Mohammed Shinwari, a 32-year-old asylum seeker was cleared of rape after his trial ended on Friday.

The youngster's parents are still too distressed to talk about the horrific events which have left the teenager emotionally scarred.

The victim was not aware of how many men were involved, or how often she was raped in one flat and then again in another, the court was told.

But sensitive questioning of the victim, and DNA swabs taken in a medical examination led to the shocking truth that more than one attacker had been involved.

Det Insp Black, added: "It must be awful for the youngster to go through this and to rebuild her life. She was also brave enough to give evidence at the trials."

The girl, who had been out with a girl friend on the night of the attack, was given a spiked glass of vodka after calling with others at the flat in Campbell Place, Arthurs Hill, Newcastle, where Ramzan, lived.

Abu then carried her from there to a neighbouring flat where she suffered further rapes and degradation.

The dazed girl eventually came round from her drug-induced coma at around 7am the following day and staggered from the flat.

She had already been reported missing by her distraught parents and she turned up at her home to tell them of her ordeal.

The rape gang will be sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court on Thursday.