On 22 July last year, in Nuneaton, a 12-year-old girl was playing on the swings. There she was spotted by Ahmad Mulakhil, an Afghan asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK four months previously. At the time, Mulakhil was staying in a taxpayer-funded House of Multiple Occupation (HMO). The Afghan followed the girl, and was recorded on a Ring doorbell saying ‘you’re very small’ to her. Mulakhil then took her to a grassy area beside garages at the end of a cul-de-sac, where he threatened to kill the girl’s family before repeatedly raping her. From CCTV evidence we know that this lasted for around 80 minutes. The Afghan recorded parts of the assault. Afterwards he took the girl with him to a shop where he bought a can of Red Bull using his Home Office-issued debit card. The girl escaped and Mulakhil was caught four days later because police were able to trace that transaction. Yesterday, he was convicted of rape, two counts of sexual assault, child abduction and taking an indecent video of the girl. Mulakhil had admitted to one count of oral rape, after police found an image on his phone, before the trial began.

Despite the best efforts of the........

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