An Afghan asylum seeker who raped a 13-year-old Nottinghamshire schoolgirl has been sentenced to nine years and 6 months at Nottingham Crown Court today.
Abdul Khan used the social media platform Snapchat to pose as a 14-year-old boy and groom the girl before arranging to meet her in the Clifton area and attacking her.
The 28-year-old arrived in the UK in the back of a lorry in 2015 and gave his date of birth as December 26, 2004, in an asylum application.
Assisted by a Pashto translator during proceedings, Khan was convicted of two counts of rape, sexual communication with a child, meeting a child following grooming, and perverting the course of justice.
He denied all charges, but on Friday, the jury found him guilty unanimously after deliberating for four hours.
Sentencing Abdul Khan, His Honour Judge Mark Watson said: “In May 2025, you were in contact with a girl you thought to be 14. That was part of a pattern of behaviour, as you were also in contact with one of her friends and someone in Derbyshire. You continued to message her, and contact with her quickly became sexual, with you asking for and receiving a naked picture of her. She thought she was communicating with a boy of her own age because that is what you led her to believe. You deliberately hid your true identity, and it’s a lie you’ve continued throughout these proceedings. You have persisted in this lie in this court. You also provided the police with a fictitious account that you were set up by a drug dealer. I am satisfied you are in your mid-twenties.”
Describing the two counts of rape, HHJ Watson said: “It was certainly your intention that you would go on to have sex with a girl you believed to be 14. Having gone to the woods, you removed her lower clothing and your own. The girl gave evidence she did not want this to happen, but allowed it to happen because of what might occur. She was, of course, a 13-year-old girl. You believed in your own mind she was consenting, but it was not a reasonable belief. Your sentence will mean automatic deportation.”
Prosecutor Kevin Jones told the court during the trial the attack happened in Scout Wood Nature Reserve in May last year.
Afghan asylum seeker Abdul Khan was sentenced to nine years and 6 months at Nottingham Crown Court
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GB NEWSHe said: “(The complainant) received a friend request from someone called Abs on Snapchat. She told him she was 14 (when she was actually 13) and he said he was also 14. They exchanged (sexual) messages, and he sent her a message asking if she wanted to have sex. On May 14, she was at school, she received a message asking if she was at school, and she said she was and would be out later, sending him a pin saying where she was, and he said, ‘I’ll meet you there’.”
Describing the meeting between the two, Jones added: “They met at a tram stop, and she was somewhat surprised at his appearance as he did not appear to be the person in the photos. On the way to a friend’s house, he tried to kiss her. They went to the friend’s house and were there for minutes before they left. She told her friend they were going to the woods. When they got to the woods, he started to unbutton her trousers and told her to get on the floor. She said she complied as she was trying not to panic.”
Mr Jones told jurors this is when Khan raped her. The girl went home alone.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, the girl said: “I feel numb when I think back to how I felt at the time. I felt scared of the world after it happened and that evening I felt like I wanted to kill myself. I was emotionless for a few months struggled to sleep. I wake up having panic attacks. I have flashbacks of the defendant three or four times a week in the night or day and if I see anyone that looks like him, it can trigger a panic attack. I feel like since it happened I can’t trust anyone and can’t trust men.”
Abdul Khan used the social media platform Snapchat to pose as a 14-year-old boy and groom the girl
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In the sentencing hearing, Khan’s defence barrister, Andrew Wesley, said he had taken a “long and arduous journey” from Afghanistan.
He added: “He left Afghanistan before the change of regime and it’s my understanding he would have a problem with a deportation order.”
During the trial, the court heard how the girl’s school trousers were swabbed and a DNA match to Khan was found.
Mr Khan was arrested by Derbyshire police on an unconnected matter, and whilst his phone was recovered, messages were found between him and the victim.
The prosecution told the court: “That (unconnected) matter was sexual communication with a child from April 21, 2025, where he was sending sexualised Snapchat messages with a child, which he has admitted His phone was examined and showed messages had been exchanged between the defendant and the victim (in this case). He was interviewed under caution and said he was nearly 16 and had never had sex in his life.”
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