Asylum seeker guilty of raping 12-year-old girl in Nuneaton
An asylum seeker has been found guilty of kidnapping and raping a 12-year-old boy in a “targeted” attack in Warwickshire.
Ahmed Mulakhil, a 23-year-old Afghan national who said his victim laughed while attacking him last summer, was found guilty of rape and two counts of sexual assault.
He pleaded guilty to another rape charge before his trial.
Jurors at Warwick Crown Court also found him guilty of child abduction and making an indecent video of the girl during her ordeal near a cul-de-sac.
Co-defendant Mohammed Kabir, also a refugee from Afghanistan, was acquitted of charges of intentional strangulation, attempted child abduction and committing a crime with intent to commit a sexual offence.
Kabir, who was 24 years old but told jurors he was 22, according to court documents, was acquitted after arguing that he never touched the victim and had no sexual intentions towards her.
The incident sparked protests in Nuneaton, Warwickshire.
During the ten-day trial, jurors were told Mulakhil had arrived in the UK four months before the rapes and had applied for immigration in connection with “troubles” he had experienced in Afghanistan.
The hearing was not told that Mulakhil had arrived in England on a small boat or that Kabir had entered England by the same method on Christmas Day 2024.
The arrest and charge of the men led UK Reform leader Nigel Farage and Warwickshire County Council leader George Finch to claim details of the attack had been “covered up”.
Speaking in August, Mr Farage also suggested that the immigration status of people accused of crimes should be disclosed by police forces.
Although guidance for police has changed to allow forces to provide details of nationality and ethnicity if there is a legitimate policing purpose, forces still do not verify the immigration status of crime suspects.
Jurors deliberated for more than seven hours over three days before reaching their verdict.
Sentencing Mulakhil into custody to be sentenced at a date to be determined, Judge Kristina Montgomery KC said of him: “Clearly, he will be sentenced to a significant prison sentence which, upon completion, will automatically make him liable for deportation.”
He also thanked the jury for performing their duties regardless of the “noise” surrounding the trial.
Mulakhil told police he believed the girl was 19 and that she had initiated her first sexual experience.
During the trial, Prosecutor Daniel Oscroft described Mulakhil’s attempts to blame his victim for what happened as “sickening” and “pretty disgusting”.
In his closing speech to the trial jury, Mr Oscroft said of Mulakhil: “There was no suggestion in his evidence that there was any pause for reflection or to think in retrospect that he had made a mistake.
“He blames her.
“He tried to claim that he believed she was an adult, that she didn’t want anything to do with it initially, that he was driving all the driving, and that she was consenting throughout.”
The victim, whose identity was not identified in media reports, told the hearing that both defendants approached him after playing on the swings in the park.
The girl said she told the attacker to stop during the sexual assaults.
Asked what the police said, the girl replied: “Nothing. He was just laughing.”
“I was saying get off of me. He didn’t say anything, he just kept going.”
Following the acquittal, Kabir was ordered to be released from the dock and the court was told that he would be left in the care of an escort service that would take him to his place of residence or detention.
Commenting after the case, a Home Office spokesman said: “We will not allow foreign criminals and illegal immigrants to abuse our laws. We are reforming human rights laws and replacing the broken appeals system so we can increase deportations.”
“The Home Secretary has recently announced sweeping reforms to tackle illegal immigration. These reforms will make Britain a less attractive target for illegal immigrants and make it easier to remove and deport them.”
