September 2011

Facebook pair had sex with Swansea schoolgirl, 13

TWO men have been sent to prison after having unprotected sex with a Swansea schoolgirl in her early teens who they met through Facebook.

One of the defendants, Swansea man Ashiqur Rahman, (pictured above) had sex with the teenager five times when she was 13 and 14.

The other man had sex with the girl in a Swansea hotel when she was 14, after travelling from London to meet her.

The incidents were described when 26-year-old Rahman and 32-year-old Junaid Hussain (pictured below) were each jailed for three years at Swansea Crown Court.

Rahman, of Glan yr Afon Road, Sketty, pleaded guilty to five offences of engaging in sexual activity with a child.

Hussain, of Woodall Close, London, admitted offences of meeting a child following sexual grooming and engaging in sexual activity with a child.

Craig Jones, prosecuting, said Rahman first met the city schoolgirl through Facebook in December last year.

They exchanged mobile phone numbers, and in January they arranged to meet in Uplands with a view to going to a nearby park.

But on that occasion the meeting was “frustrated”, said Mr Jones, when the girl’s mother saw them and intervened.

Rahman and the girl then met by accident and their sexual encounters began a short time later when Rahman took to going to the girl’s home when her mother was out.

The police became involved after she told a schoolfriend what had been going on.

Interviewed, Rahman claimed she had told him she was 16.

He also maintained the girl had put him under “great pressure” to have sex with her.

Mr Jones said Hussain had similarly met the schoolgirl through Facebook.

They arranged to meet up and he travelled from London in June this year after booking a room at a hotel in Fabian Way.

When they met at a city centre bus stop the girl was in her school uniform, and later they had sex at the hotel.

Interviewed, Hussain claimed he believed she was 16 and asserted she had been “very, very keen” to have sex with him.

Defence barristers John Hipkin and Catherine Richards emphasised their clients were now very ashamed of their conduct.

Judge Thomas said prison terms were unavoidable and an aggravating feature in the case was that both defendants had had unprotected sex with the girl, creating a substantial risk she would become pregnant.