July 2017

Sex offender sent to prison – again

A convicted sex offender has been sent to prison by magistrates for 12 weeks for failing to notify the police of his whereabouts.

Shafaq Hussain, 29, formerly of Skipton and now of Midland Terrace, Keighley,  was in breach of two notification requirements of the sexual offenders register, Skipton Magistrates Court heard.

He failed to notify police within three days of the address in Skipton where he was staying temporarily after being released from prison on June 2, and he also stayed there for more than 12 hours when there were children in he house under the age of 18.

The court heard Hussain had been sentenced at Bradford Crown Court in June, 2009 to 18 months – later reduced to 16 – for six sexual offences with an underage girl. He was living and working in Skipton at the time, and the offences took place in the town.

He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register for ten years which included notifying the police where he was living and having no unsupervised conduct with underage children.

Hussain had four earlier breaches, and in the spring of last year, a 12 month suspended sentence had been activated, the court was told.

Hussain who admitted both breaches, which took place between June 2 and June 11, was sentenced for 12 weeks for each, to run concurrently.

In mitigation, Nicholas Leadbeater, said while Hussain had been in prison he had asked his probation officer to put a condition on his release that he be placed in a hostel, but it had not happened.

On his release, he had persuaded a close relative to put him up temporarily while he found a permanent address.

Mr Leadbeater said Hussain’s relative had put pressure on him every day to find an alternative address, not because she was in fear of her children, but because she thought he would bring the authorities to her door.

He added Hussain had found accommodation in Keighley with the help of his uncle, and had immediately told the police.

Magistrates told Hussain his sentence had been reduced from 18 weeks because of his early guilty plea. He will also have to pay a surcharge of £115.

July 2009

Three men who groomed young girl for sex jailed for 18 years

THREE men who groomed a vulnerable teenage girl for sex were jailed for a total of 18 years yesterday.

Mohammed Zackriya, 21, of Springfield Road, Keighley, Mohammed Taj, 37 of Broughton Road, Skipton and Mohammed Shabir (Snr), a 36-year-old, father-of-five, of Hawk Street, Keighley, were convicted of 28 sexual offences on Thursday against the girl who cannot be named for legal reasons.

The jury were directed by Judge Peter Benson to return a not guilty verdict on another man, Shahid Iqbal, 25, of Nightingale Street, Keighley, half-way through proceedings.

Yesterday he jailed Zackriya for eight years, Taj for five years and Shabir for five years. Shabir was also given an additional six month sentence for contempt of court after he ‘’behaved in a quite disgraceful way’’ following a foul-mouthed outburst when a witness gave evidence.

All three were told they would have to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register indefinitely and made subject to orders restricting their association with children.

During a lengthy trial Bradford Crown Court was told that the teenager was targeted by the six men when she was aged 14 to 15 because she “craved attention” before they carried out a series of cynical sexual offences.

Last night, the victim, who is now 18, said: ‘’I can wake up on a morning and start smiling again now.

They have taken away my teenage years but they can’t take away the rest of my life. ‘’Being in court was a horrible experience – it was like being raped and abused all over again but 10 times worse.

‘’I was being called a liar hour after hour, it was the worst thing I have ever had to go through – it was a nightmare and I can’t believe I did it. ‘’But I was determined to see justice done – I had an inner strength, somehow – though there were times when I wanted to walk away.

“I think they deserve everything they got – when I was told the verdicts I was crying tears of joy. I really didn’t want Maz – Mohammed Zackriya and Shabby, (Shabir), to get away with what they did to me.

‘’I still have nightmares about what happened to me – my parents have heard me screaming in my sleep as I shouted: ‘Get off me’.’’

Judge Benson lifted an order prohibiting the media from reporting how the jury were quizzed briefly over any connections they may have with the far-right British National Party before the trial started.