AMIN SAMATER

A man who abducted two teenage girls and tried to book a hotel room for the three of them on Teesside has been jailed.

Amin Samater was arrested after suspicious hotel staff called police when he "persistently" tried to book a room with the underage girls.

The 31-year-old had taken the girls to a hotel, but was unable to book a room.

The three were later found in a nearby McDonalds by police officers.

On Wednesday, Samater, of Greenford Road, Newcastle, appeared at Teesside Crown Court to be sentenced for two counts of child abduction.

He had been convicted of the offences following a trial.

The court heard that Samater met the two girls in Middlesbrough town centre.

He had also previously met them a week earlier.

Paul Newcombe, prosecuting, said: "They told the defendant their age.

He called them babies." Mr Newcombe said that Samater then booked a taxi and took the girls to a hotel in Teesside and tried to book a room.

The court heard he attempted to book the room in person with cash, but when that was refused, he tried to book over the phone.

Mr Newcombe said his attempts showed "persistency".

Concerned hotel staff then contacted the police and the three of them were found in a nearby McDonalds.

When Samater was arrested, he was found in possession of cannabis and denied the offences.

He had been with the girls for five hours.

The court heard Samater had 11 previous convictions for 17 offences, including for violence and harassment.

Chris Morrison, defending, asked the court to suspend the prison sentence.

He said there was "no coercion" involved and that the incident was relatively short.

He said: "There has been no offending since his arrest and charge for this.

He lives an uneventful life and is on Universal Credit." Mr Morrison added that Samater is hoping to undertake a plumbing course at Gateshead College and that his immigration status is "clear for him to be able to that".

He added Samater is also on medication for schizophrenia.

Judge Jonathan Carroll said Samater knew the girls were vulnerable and that he is a high risk to children.

He jailed him for 18 months and made him subject of a 10 year sexual harm prevention order.

Following the sentencing, Cleveland Police Investigating officer, Detective Constable Shaun Watson, said: "First of all, I would like to thank the member of staff at the hotel who alerted police with her concerns, which allowed police to track down Samater and arrest him, and ensure the two girls were safe and well.

Their actions potentially saved these two girls from any further harm, and have assisted greatly with putting a dangerous offender behind bars.

Our priority is to protect vulnerable people and we can now be certain that Samater cannot harm anyone else.

"I would also like to thank the two girls involved for their bravery in providing a video statement to police and giving evidence to the court.

This is a lot for two young girls to go through and again without their courageous input to the courts about what happened we may not have been able to gain this result.

"Operation Makesafe which takes place in Cleveland, allows specially trained officers to work with the business community, such as hotels, licensed premises, taxi companies etc to raise awareness of the signs of child exploitation, and this therefore allows staff to be equipped with the knowledge to identify potential victims and alert emergency services."