Sakhidad Ahadi, 25, who continues to lie about his age and was deemed “dangerous” by the judge, received twelve years imprisonment after grooming the young girl and coaxing her into his room.
He is determined to pursue a life in the UK, claiming he was shot by the Taliban when he refused to be recruited, having already endured the murder of his father at the hands of the country’s rulers.
The girl and her brother had been brought to the UK by their mother and the family were accommodated at the historic Queens Hotel, Crystal Palace - known locally as ‘Hotel Asylum’.
It proudly boasts an English Heritage Blue Plaque outside, noting French Novelist Emile Zola was a resident between 1898 and 1899.
Ahadi pleaded guilty to one count of raping the girl and a Croydon Crown Court jury convicted him on a second count of raping her on the same occasion between December 22, 2022 and January 1, 2023.
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| 'Hotel Asylum' - Queens Hotel, Crystal Palace |
He claimed she consented to sex and he believed she was 19 years-old, with his lawyer Lisa Wilson submitting: “Perceiving age may not be so clear to someone who has grown-up in mountainous Afghanistan.”
“Both the defendant and victim were living at the hotel, housed there by the Home Office with other asylum-seekers,” prosecutor Janine Sheff told the court.
“He made a number of attempts to talk to her and followed her around and she said he bothered her and once brought her into his room and massaged her injured foot.
“She says she was scared of him and he sought physical contact with her and on the day of the offences he approached her near the hotel lifts and offered her cream for spots on her face.
“She went with him to his room and he said he would massage and crack her back, but she was scared and told him she was twelve years-old.
“He put on the cream and pulled her pants down and she said it hurt her and made her cry. He then turned her over and raped her again.
“It made a mess of the bed and the defendant tried to clean it up with toilet paper,” said the prosecutor, explaining it was the young girl’s time of the month.
“He gave her five pounds and a SIM card to buy her silence and to potentially engage in future activity as she was urged to remain in contact via mobile phone.
“The Probation Services’s pre-sentence report points out this is classic behaviour of grooming.”
The girl kept the rapes a secret from her mother until she told a hotel security guard she was afraid of Ahadi and the police were informed.
When officers arrived she revealed to them for the first time that she had been raped and her first recorded police interview had to be scrapped because she was so distressed.
“The victim also has a learning difficulty that makes her particularly vulnerable,” said Miss Sheff, adding a medical check showed evidence of two internal lacerations.
Ahadi was arrested on January 2 and has been in custody since. “He claimed she had come into his room while he was studying for college and initiated sex and thought she was 19 years-old.”
In her victim impact statement the girl said: “I feel super-stressed, suffer emotional outbursts and I am crying all the time. I stay awake at night and feel someone is chasing me.”
Her mother said: “The sky has fallen in on my head and destroyed me. We came to this country for safety and I did not want anything like this to happen to my children.”
Miss Wilson said of Ahadi, who required an interpreter throughout the trial: “He has made great efforts to learn English and looks to take advantage of being a civilian in this country, whether a prisoner or not.”
Judge Anthony Dunne told Ahadi, wearing a grey tracksuit: “You touched her and took her pants off and you raped her first when she was face-down and a medical examination revealed you tore her.
“Despite her young age and obvious distress you turned her over and after you finished there was a mess on the bed, which you cleaned up with toilet paper.
“She told you her real age and that she was twelve years-old. She denied that she told you she was aged nineteen and her version of events have been proved.
“The jury concluded that she was telling the truth and that you were lying.
“It has been said your cultural background made it impossible for you to know she was twelve. I reject that as implausible.
“While she was in obvious distress you raped her and she was vulnerable and had a learning difficulty.
“Your sexual assault has had a significant effect on her mental health and your actions have had a highly significant psychological effect on her and her mother, harm | can take into account.
“The mother says she has been destroyed by what happened to her daughter.”
Ahadi continues to lie he is only twenty years-old, but Judge Dunne confirmed: “The records of the relevant authorities show that he is twenty-five years-old.
“I accept you had difficulties in your childhood in Afghanistan and you were vulnerable at the time of the offence and your epilepsy will make life more difficult in prison,” the judge told him.
“I have heard you have made good progress in prison and this is to your credit.”
However Judge Dunne added: “I am satisfied you are a risk and meet the ‘dangerousness’ criteria and you present a significant risk to the public.
“You showed no remorse or insight for these offences,” said the Judge, ordering an extended sentence of an additional three years on licence once Ahadi is released.
He must serve at least eight years in custody before he is considered for parole and will remain on the sex offenders register for life.
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