Asylum Seeker Who Came to the UK Hidden in the Back of a Lorry Pretended to Be a Teenage Boy Online, Landed in Big Trouble After His Secret Acts Were Exposed

An asylum seeker who pretended to be a teenage boy on social media before grooming and raping a 13-year-old girl has been sentenced to nine and a half years in prison.

Abdul Khan, who is believed to be 28 years old, came to the UK in 2015. Nottingham Crown Court heard that he entered the country while hiding in the back of a lorry.

Years later, Khan became involved in a serious case involving a young girl. The court heard that he used social media to hide his real age and make the 13-year-old believe she was talking to another teenager.

Khan communicated with the girl through Snapchat. Instead of telling her his real age, he pretended that he was a 14-year-old boy. This meant the girl believed she was speaking to someone who was around her own age.

Their conversations continued online before Khan arranged to meet the girl in person. They eventually met at a nature reserve in the Clifton area of Nottingham.

During Khan’s four-day trial at Nottingham Crown Court, the jury heard evidence about what happened between him and the girl. Jurors determined that their first encounter had been consensual, but Khan later raped the girl twice in May last year.

The case eventually came before the courts, where Khan denied the allegations against him. However, after hearing the evidence presented during the trial, the jury found him guilty of a number of serious sexual offences.

He was convicted of two counts of rape and one count of sexual activity with a child. He was also found guilty of sexual communication with a child, meeting a child following grooming and perverting the course of justice.

The court also heard that this was not Khan’s first prison sentence involving inappropriate communication with a child.

Khan, who is currently being held at HMP Nottingham, was already serving a 23-month prison sentence for sexual communication with another child in the Derbyshire area.

The 13-year-old girl involved in the Nottingham case was present in court when Khan returned to be sentenced on Monday.

Prosecutor Dawn Pritchard read out a personal statement from the girl to Judge Mark Watson. The statement explained some of the emotional impact the experience had on her.

The girl said that when she thinks back to how she felt at the time, she now feels numb. Her statement gave the court an understanding of how the experience had affected her personally.

When it was time to sentence Khan, Judge Watson focused on the way he had hidden his real identity from the girl.

The judge told Khan that he had deliberately concealed who he really was. The 13-year-old believed she was communicating online with another child close to her own age, when in reality Khan was an adult.

Judge Watson said this was a lie Khan had continued with throughout the court proceedings.

The fact that Khan pretended to be a 14-year-old was an important part of the case because it explained how he was able to gain the girl’s trust before meeting her in person.

After considering the offences and the evidence heard during the trial, Judge Watson sentenced Khan to nine and a half years in prison.

Khan will therefore spend several years behind bars for the offences. He was also ordered to register as a sex offender indefinitely, meaning the requirement will remain in place without a fixed end date.

The court was also told that Khan faces automatic deportation to Afghanistan after serving two-thirds of his prison sentence.

As Khan was taken away from the dock following the sentencing, he covered his face with his hands.

The sentence brings the court case to an end after jurors found him guilty of the serious offences against the 13-year-old girl. Khan will now continue serving his time in prison, with the possibility of deportation from the UK after he has served the required part of his sentence.