A pair of men have been sent to prison after an 11-year-old child was led away from an east Birmingham street, kept inside a house and subjected to a traumatic sexual assault.
An 11-year-old girl left her home in the early hours of the morning without telling anyone before being approached near an east Birmingham railway station by a stranger.
Hamza Sharif, 36, convinced the child to go with him to a property where she was intentionally separated from the outside world.
Abduction led to assault
Once inside the house, 28-year-old Sadak Ali subjected the young girl to intrusive sexual questioning and assaulted her over her clothes.
The vulnerable child was also offered cocaine during the ordeal, which she refused.
Sharif was sentenced to five years in prison for child abduction, while Ali received a seven-year jail sentence on Thursday at Birmingham Crown Court.
Ali was ordered to register as a sex offender for life, and both defendants were handed restraining orders.
I thought the man wanted to help me but what happened changed me forever.
The victim
Nightmares follow traumatic ordeal
Prosecutor Usha Shergill read a statement from the victim explaining how the crime affected her life.
The young girl revealed that she now struggles to trust adults and feels as though she is being punished.
She continues to endure flashbacks and nightmares where she can picture both men.
Excuses rejected by judge
Defence lawyers acknowledged that both men had taken illegal drugs.
Barrister Simon Williams said Ali had experienced trauma in Somalia that impacted his mental health, leading to drug and alcohol abuse, but noted he was now taking a personal social development course in custody to become a better person.
Appearing by videolink from HMP Hewell in Worcestershire, barrister Simon Burch claimed there was no evidence Sharif had given drugs to the child and suggested Sharif had a benevolent motivation after suffering personal tragedies, including the deaths of his wife and uncle.
Judge Roderick Henderson dismissed the claim of any benevolent intent, though he acknowledged both men had faced severe personal challenges.
The judge condemned the actions of Sharif, who initiated contact with the child.
Judge Henderson said:
He was the person that first made contact. He was therefore the driving force in the abduction. She (the complainant) was deliberately isolated for a significant length of time.