An asylum seeker raped a 12-year-old girl above a shop that he was illegally working in. Mohammed Wahid Mohammed told the victim it was “not safe on the streets” and gave her a vape and crisps at Villa Supermarket in Handsworth before attacking her in a bedroom, a court was told.
The girl was vulnerable having left home and travelled to Birmingham on her own. Wahid Mohammed wept in the dock as he was sentenced to 12 years in prison after admitting two counts of sexually assaulting a girl under the age of 13, and was found guilty of three counts of rape by a jury. He had claimed that girl consented to sex despite being too young to do so.
Judge Roderick Henderson also imposed an extended five-year licence after ruling he was a ‘dangerous’ offender.
The court heard how the victim arrived in Birmingham at around 8.30pm on the day of the attack.
Andrew Wallace, prosecuting, said: “She had a couple of pounds on her. A homeless lady approached her.
“She bought the lady a cup of tea. The homeless lady then walked her down Villa Road to Villa Supermarket.
“As soon as the defendant saw her he said: ‘You look really young. You look really cold/ Do you want to come into the shop? It’s warm in there, I’ll get you something to eat and drink’.”
He continued: “He knew she was far away from home, there was discussion about that.
“Ironically, he told her it wasn’t safe on the streets. He coaxed her into the shop under the pretence of being concerned. Really he only had sex in mind.”
The victim had originally pretended to be older but told Wahid Mohammed her real age before he kissed her.
“He wasn’t lawfully working in the store, he’s an asylum seeker from Syria,” said Mr Wallace, who added: “He led her to a bedroom and leant in to kiss her.
“She said ‘woah you know I’m only 12’. It’s quite plain at one stage she was pretending to be older.”
The court heard Wahid Mohammed locked the room and repeatedly raped the girl during an hour-long ordeal.
The girl was saved by a family in a takeaway later that night who grew suspicious of the relationship between the pair and eventually realised that the girl was the subject of a missing person search.
Wahid Mohammed was arrested two days later. He admitted to some of the accusations but attempted to claim that the sex had been consensual – despite the victim’s age.
Mr Wallace added: “When it became plain a 12-year-old could not consent, we had effectively ‘she was somebody who sexually assaulted him and there was nothing he could do about it’.”
Wahid Mohammed had not previously committed a crime. Nicholas Devine, defending, confirmed he was seeking asylum from Syria and claimed he had had a ‘difficult life’.
Judge Henderson, passing sentence, told him: “This was a sustained event, albeit on one day.
“There was some grooming although it was limited in time.
“But you exploited her because she was plainly young and effectively away from home.”
He added it would be for the authorities to determine the issue of deportation at a later stage.