Abdul Khan, an asylum seeker believed to be 28, has been sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court after being convicted of raping a schoolgirl he had groomed online while posing as a teenage boy on Snapchat. The attack took place in a nature reserve in Clifton, Nottingham, on 14 May last year, and Khan now faces deportation to Afghanistan once he has served part of his custodial term.
According to the original court proceedings, Khan entered the UK concealed in the back of a lorry in 2015. The court was told he contacted his victim online, telling her he was 14 years old, and arranged to meet her in woodland. When they met and it became apparent he was not a teenager, he reportedly told her he was 16 in an attempt to reassure her.
What did the court hear about the grooming?
Jurors heard that after what was found to have been consensual activity between Khan and the girl, he went on to rape her twice. He was convicted following a four-day trial of two counts of rape, one count of sexual activity with a child, sexual communication with a child, meeting a child following sexual grooming and perverting the course of justice.
There is a discrepancy in reporting over the victim's age: while the original court report described her as 13, a later BBC account put her age at 12. According to that later BBC report, Khan had already pleaded guilty to one charge of rape before the trial began, and was subsequently convicted of further offences including abduction and sexual assault after a contested trial. The same report states that the offending also involved Khan taking an indecent video of the girl.
How does the sentence compare to earlier reports?
The original reporting stated Khan was jailed for nine and a half years, with release contingent on serving two thirds of that term before automatic deportation proceedings begin. However, according to a later BBC report, Khan was in fact sentenced to 16 years in prison, of which 15 years must be served before he becomes eligible for release on licence. Judge Kristina Montgomery is reported to have told Khan the sentence made him automatically liable for deportation, according to The Jerusalem Post's account of the sentencing.
Is this part of a wider pattern?
This case follows a series of recent prosecutions in Nottinghamshire and elsewhere involving asylum seekers and sexual offences against children and young women. In one earlier case, an asylum seeker named Sheraz Malik was jailed for 10 years for raping an 18-year-old woman in Sutton Lawn park, Nottinghamshire. Separately, Bawan Harwe was sentenced to 29 years for grooming, trafficking and abusing girls aged 12 to 16, with an accomplice still being sought by police. Beyond Nottinghamshire, a further BBC report described a separate case in Nuneaton involving an Afghan asylum seeker convicted of offences against a 12-year-old girl, according to that report.
What happens next?
Khan is expected to face deportation proceedings once his custodial sentence has been served, according to both the later BBC report and the sentencing coverage cited by The Jerusalem Post. The exact timing of any removal to Afghanistan will depend on the completion of his prison term and subsequent immigration processes.
Key Facts
- Abdul Khan, 28, was convicted at Nottingham Crown Court over an attack in Clifton, Nottingham, on 14 May last year.
- He posed as a 14-year-old boy on Snapchat to groom his victim before meeting her in person.
- Sentencing figures differ between reports: nine and a half years in the original account versus 16 years, with 15 to be served, in a later BBC report.
- The victim's age is reported as either 13 or 12 depending on the source.
- Khan faces deportation to Afghanistan following completion of his custodial sentence.
