𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

An Afghan asylum seeker who laughed as he raped a 12-year-old girl has been jailed for 15 years.

Ahmad Mulakhil, 23, attacked the schoolgirl after luring her into a secluded cul-de-sac in Nuneaton. He filmed the rape and then later tried to blame his traumatised victim.

And Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said the case makes him “sick to my stomach”, adding ministers must deport “all” illegal immigrants and foreign criminals “to protect the public”.

He said: “Under the Labour Government, this vile individual broke into our country illegally and then raped a child.

“This case makes me sick to the stomach, and now taxpayers will pay hundreds of thousands of pounds to keep this vile man in prison.

“The victim was just twelve, and the trauma of this brutal attack will stay with her forever.

“This case shows exactly why we need to leave the ECHR to enable us to deport all illegal immigrants within a week of arrival.

“Every left-wing open borders advocate who thinks the ECHR is great now needs to explain why they think letting men like this into the country is ok. It isn’t.

“The weak Labour Government won’t fix this. From record illegal small boat crossings to repeated failures to remove those with no right to be here, they don’t have the backbone to do what is needed. We need to deport all illegal immigrants and foreign criminals to protect the public and prevent crimes like this happening again.

“Only the changed Conservative Party has a comprehensive plan to do this – our BORDERS plan. Then despicable men like this wouldn’t be able to stay in the country longer than a week.”

Katie Lam, shadow home office minister, said: “This is a truly horrific crime against a child. This brave little girl and her family have endured something absolutely nobody should have to go through.

“Cases like this rightly outrage the public. Time and again, migrants who come here illegally are committing hideous and vile crimes.

“This man should never have been free to prowl the streets looking for a victim. If we are to have a meaningful deterrent and keep women and girls safe, it is essential that those who cross the Channel illegally are immediately detained and then removed – either to their own country or a safe third country.

“Justice must be done, but the system must also keep the British people safe, and that starts with a secure border.”

Jurors heard how Mulakhil lured the 12-year-old girl down a secluded cul-de-sac before repeatedly raping her and filming the attack.

And the judge, Kristina Montgomery told the Afghan rapist: “She was left alone in a park in the darkness.

“She was distressed, she was hypervigilant. Looking over her shoulder and into the woodland to see whether you were still in the area.

The victim, who cannot be identified in media reports, told the trial she was approached in a park.

In a videotaped statement, the girl said: “He was trying to strip my clothes off. He said nothing. He was laughing. I was saying get off me but he didn’t say anything, he just carried on.

“He was saying he was going to kill my family. I was scared. He took photos. It felt weird. Why was he taking pictures of that?”

She added: “Your victim was particularly vulnerable due to her personal circumstances and she has suffered significant and ongoing psychological harm.”

“Shortly after 6pm, your victim and you met. There was an exchange between you, and you were captured on CCTV in each other’s company for a second time just after 8pm.

“Footage from a security camera caught an exchange between you in which you asked your victim to tell you her age.

“She said she was 19, which was an obvious lie.

“Your reaction was incredulous and the jury’s verdict leaves no doubt that you knew she was aged under 16.”

The judge said the defendant “targeted” the victim, who was left distressed after the attack.

Mulakhil also told police he believed the girl was 19 and that she had initiated what was his first sexual encounter.

But during the trial, Prosecutor Daniel Oscroft described Mulakhil’s attempts to blame his victim for what happened as “stomach-churning” and “pretty revolting”.

During his closing speech to the trial jury, Mr Oscroft said of Mulakhil: “There was no hint in the evidence he gave of any pause for reflection or to consider that in retrospect he made a mistake.

“He has tried to argue that he believed she was an adult – that he initially didn’t want anything to do with it – that she drove all of it, and that she consented throughout.”

Defending Mulakhil, Marcus Harry said the defendant arrived in the UK when he was 22 after fleeing Afghanistan.

He told the sentencing hearing: “He left Afghanistan at 22 having spent 12 years at school until the age of 18.

“He was planning on attending university to study economics but for a variety of reasons, he came under the focus of the Taliban, as did his family, and that is the reason he ultimately fled the country.

“His brother did the same, ultimately ending up in another country. He entered this country and when he arrived, claimed political asylum and was awaiting determination of that claim.”