Two men have been jailed for abducting an 11-year-old girl in Birmingham, sexually assaulting her and offering her cocaine. Sadak Ali, 28, was sentenced to seven years in prison, while Hamza Sharif, 36, was handed a five-year sentence for child abduction at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday.
Abduction and assault
The girl, who cannot be identified, had left her home during the early hours without telling anyone before meeting Sharif near a railway station in east Birmingham. Sharif suggested she go with him to a house, where the girl was offered cocaine but refused to take it. At the house, Ali asked the child "invasive" sexual questions and touched her over her clothing.
Prosecutor Usha Shergill told the court the two men had not known the girl before that night. In a victim personal statement read to the court, the girl described the devastating impact of the ordeal, saying: "I thought the man wanted to help me but what happened changed me forever."
Impact on the victim
The youngster also said she now found it difficult to trust any adult and felt as though she was being punished. She suffered "nightmares and flashbacks" in which she could picture the two men.
During the sentencing hearing, defence barristers Simon Burch and Simon Williams accepted that the defendants had used illegal drugs. Mr Williams told the court that Ali had "experienced trauma" in Somalia which had affected his mental health, and said he had turned to drugs and alcohol as a way of coping. He added: "He is currently undertaking a personal social development course (in prison). In short, he wants to become a better person."
Sentencing and orders
Mr Burch, making representations by videolink, said there was no evidence Sharif had supplied the girl with drugs. The court also heard that Sharif, who appeared by videolink from HMP Hewell in Worcestershire, had experienced "various tragedies", including the deaths of his wife and uncle.
Judge Roderick Henderson accepted that both men had faced significant difficulties in their lives but rejected a suggestion from Mr Burch that Sharif had a "benevolent motivation" towards the girl. The judge described the child as "desperately vulnerable" and said she had been deliberately isolated for a significant period of time. Speaking about Sharif's role, he 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."
Judge Henderson ordered Ali to register as a sex offender for life. Both men were also made subject to restraining orders.
