ONE OF STOKE-ON-TRENT'S YOUNGEST-EVER RAPISTS JAILED FOR 18 MONTHS
A man who raped two children when he was just 11 years old has been locked up.Fahad Ahmed is now aged 20 and abused and raped the primary school girls in 2017.
His offending has had a profound effect on the girls.
Now Ahmed has been sentenced to 18 months detention at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.
Judge Sally Hancox also placed the defendant on the sex offenders' register for 10 years.
Prosecutor Barry White said: "He told his victims not to tell anyone about what he had done." In an impact statement one girl said she sometimes becomes scared in the company of men.
She struggles to sleep and it has impacted on her relationships and friendships.
The second victim said she used to be bubbly but now feels isolated and withdraws from social situations.
She finds it difficult to engage in conversations with men and she has gone through stages where "she no longer wants to be here".
She added: "I can barely sleep at night.
I no longer feel comfortable in my own skin." Ahmed, of Stoke-on-Trent, denied two charges of rape of a child under 13 and two charges of assaulting a child by penetration.
He was convicted of all four charges after a trial.
Paul Cliff, mitigating, accepted it was inevitable that the victims were psychologically harmed.
He asked Judge Hancox to take into account Ahmed's previous good character; his limited understanding of the offences; and his 'extreme youth' at the time of the offending.
Mr Cliff said: "He had only just become capable of obtaining criminal legal responsibility.
Custody is a last resort when one is dealing with the sentence of a child, although he is now 20 years of age.
The principal aim for this court is to sentence the offender as though he was being sentenced shortly after the offending took place.
If he had been dealt with in 2017 there is every likelihood that his case might have been dealt with in the youth court.
There would be a realistic possibility that, had he been dealt with as an 11-year-old, a non-custodial sentence may have been imposed." "The passage of time has enabled him to demonstrate that he is capable of avoiding further offences.
He is now 20.
He has no previous offences recorded against him.
He is not subject to any ongoing investigation and in the nine years since this offending he has led, we say, a blameless life." "I would submit there is evidence in the pre-sentence report that he was immature, even for an 11-year-old.
It is reasonable to suggest that he likely had a significantly underdeveloped psychomaturity at that age.
It had limited understanding of sexual intercourse.
He had limited understanding of the offences." Judge Hancox told Ahmed: "You were found guilty after trial.
You are now 20 years of age.
You have no other convictions or cautions recorded against you." "One victim has spoken of nightmares, flashbacks, the impact on her schooling, and concentration.
And it has made the making of new friendships hard.
The second victim has gone from being a social person to one who isolates.
She is wary of speaking to men.
It is clear that the impact upon these two young girls is, and remains, significant." "Mr Cliff has asked the court to consider you were only 11 and you have not offended since.
Custodial sentences should be particularly rare for a child under 14.
He reminds the court it must not sentence you as you committed these offences as an adult or even as an older child or teenager.
The court must sentence for offences committed when you were 11." "The age of criminal responsibility is 10.
You were extremely young when these offences took place.
Each child was told not to tell anyone what had happened.
The sentence must reflect your young age." "In my judgement, had you been sentenced when a child for four offences, found to be committed against two young victims, I consider a court would have considered a period of detention." Ahmed will serve up to half the sentence in custody before he is released.
