HALIFAX MAN JAILED FOR RAPING UNDERAGE GIRL AFTER ADMITTING GUILT
A Halifax man who raped an underage schoolgirl when he was just 15 has been jailed for 21 months.Stefan Foleher’s victim was praised by a judge for her courage in court after the 23-year-old finally admitted his guilt.
Judge Ahmed Nadim said: "The court expresses its gratitude to (the complainant) for showing the courage to deal with matters which are clearly very personal and troubling to her." The judge said he hoped that now the process had concluded it would enable her to move on with her life.
In 2020 the complainant made contact with the defendant over social media and the police investigation was reinstated after he “admitted” the rape to her.
Despite that, he again denied the allegation in a second police interview and he only entered his guilty plea to the rape charge today.
Foleher, of Lightowler Close, Halifax, had no previous convictions and his barrister Abdul Shakoor said he was regretful and remorseful.
He said Foleher had some mental health difficulties at the time of the offending and was very immature.
He was made subject to a lifelong restraining order which bans him from contacting the complainant by any means in the future and he will now have to register as a sex offender with the police for the next 10 years.
“Since the commission of this offence he has done nothing but lead a law-abiding life,” said Mr Shakoor.
Judge Nadim said at the time of the rape the complainant had made it clear in no uncertain terms that she did not want to have sex with Foleher, but he had persisted and ignored her resistance.
He said the delay in sentencing was down to Foleher because he could have admitted his guilt years ago.
"The impact of your offending has been profound," said the judge.
"With some considerable courage (the complainant) has read before the court her impact statement.
In short (she) told the court that her mental health has been impaired as a result of what you have done to her."
