MAN aged 53 has been jailed for four and a
half years for having sex with a 13-year-old girl.
Akhtar Hussain was infatuated with the child,
proposing to her on one knee and saying he
would leave his family and take her to Pakistan,
Bradford Crown Court heard.
Hussain, of Newburn Road, Great Horton ,
Bradford, had sex with the girl in a room he
rented in the centre of the city on a date in
July last year.
He was arrested after the child was reported
missing from home. She was questioned by the
police and revealed that she had been with
Hussain and that she had sex with him a few
days earlier.
Hussain, a chef, was charged with rape but
yesterday the Crown accepted his guilty plea to
the alternative offence of sexual activity with a
child.
Prosecutor, Jayne Beckett, said Hussain called
the child his girlfriend, told her he loved her and
threatened to kill himself if she did not return
his affections.
He knelt down and asked her to marry him,
saying he would leave his wife and three
children and take her to Pakistan.
They met up in the rented room and at a local
park, Mrs Beckett said.
The girl told the police they were kissing in the
room and “it happened” on Hussain’s bed.
“She said ‘no’ and he kept asking, and was
talking about love and marriage, and giving her
money,” the court heard.
“She said ‘no’ but was worn down by him,” Mrs
Beckett said.
The girl later told Hussain: “We have to end
this” but he said he couldn’t because he loved
her.
The court heard that the girl was medically
examined and had an injury consistent with
sexual activity a few days earlier. Traces of
Hussain’s semen were found in her knickers.
Hussain made a statement denying any sexual
contact with the girl, telling the police: “No
more questions; dirty questions. She is like my
granddaughter.”
Mrs Beckett said a significant aggravating
feature of the case was the 40 year age
disparity between Hussain and the girl.
Hussain pleaded guilty yesterday after the child
and her father flew to the UK from Poland.
They had returned to their homeland but came
back for the court case.
“Her father says she used to be always playing
and now she is very different,” Mrs Beckett
said.
“She found it difficult when she came to
England from Poland, and then this happened
and she cannot erase it from her memory. She
feels like it is with her all the time.”
Hussain’s barrister, Rodney Ferm, said his client
was estranged from his wife at the time
because of his drinking. He was at a low ebb
and had “a crush” on the child.
“This wasn’t just cynical behaviour. He was
lonely and isolated and he did develop strong
feelings for this young girl,” Mr Ferm said.
“He did feel misguided but genuine affection for
her. It never was non-consensual.”
Mr Fern said Hussain had the ordeal of the rape
charge hanging over him, like the Sword of
Damacles, for a very long time.
The infatuation with the girl lasted two weeks
and he had sex with her one occasion.
The Recorder of Bradford, Judge Roger Thomas
QC, said that although Hussain came to the UK
from Pakistan in around 1980, he still needed an
interpreter for the court hearing. As the girl had
come to Bradford from Poland, there was a
significant language barrier and it was hard to
see how a “relationship” could have developed
between them.
“You saw her and took a fancy to her and had
'a relationship' with her for about two weeks. It
is said that you were lonely and isolated and
developed a crush on her. But communication
between you must have been difficult and it
must have been hard to form a genuine
relationship.
“You, of course, were 40 years her senior, that
is a massive difference of age,” Judge Thomas
said.
He continued: “Your interests were driven
entirely by sexual gratification.”
Hussain must sign on the sex offenders’
register indefinitely and the judge made a
Sexual Harm Prevention Order banning him
from any future contact with the girl or with any
female under 16.
Judge Thomas returned a formal not guilty
verdict on the charge of rape.
Afterwards, an NSPCC spokesman said:
“Hussain carried out appalling abuse on a
vulnerable 13-year-old child and is now rightly
behind bars.
“Akhtar knew his behaviour was wrong and that
his victim could not consent to sexual activity.
We hope she is now receiving help and support
to overcome what has happened to her.
“We need to ensure that children who have
been abused by predators like Hussain feel
confident to come forward, safe in the
knowledge that their voices will be heard and
they can receive justice.”
Half years