Two men jailed for abducting and sexually assaulting girl, 11, in Birmingham

Mixed · 2Sadak Ali, 28, and Hamza Sharif, 36, have been jailed at Birmingham Crown Court over the abduction of an 11-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted at a house in Birmingham. 1 2 Mixed · 2Ali received seven years and Sharif five years; Ali must also register as a sex offender for life, and both men are subject to restraining orders. 1 2 Mixed · 2Prosecutor Usha Shergill told the sentencing hearing that the girl, who did not know the men, had left home in the early hours without telling anyone and met Sharif near a railway station in east Birmingham. 1 2

Right · 1Sharif suggested she go to a house with him, where she declined an offer of cocaine and Ali asked her "invasive" sexual questions and assaulted her. 2 Left · 1The Daily Mirror reports that Ali, who was using drugs at the property, touched the girl over her clothing, and that he was found guilty at trial of sexual assault and child abduction. 1 Right · 1GB News describes the convictions as detaining a child by keeping them under unlawful control, for both men, plus assault by touching a child under 13 for Ali, and says Ali's seven-year term runs concurrently. 2

Mixed · 2In a victim personal statement, the girl said: "I thought the man wanted to help me but what happened changed me forever." She said she felt punished, found it hard to trust any adult and suffered "nightmares and flashbacks". 1 2 Mixed · 2Judge Roderick Henderson said Sharif was the "driving force" of the abduction because he first made contact, and that the girl was "deliberately isolated for a significant length of time"; he rejected defence barrister Simon Burch's suggestion of a "benevolent motivation". 1 2 Mixed · 2The defence accepted both men had used illegal drugs. Simon Williams said Ali had "experienced trauma" in Somalia that affected his mental health and was taking a course in prison; Mr Burch said there was no evidence Sharif supplied the girl with drugs, and the court heard Sharif had suffered "various tragedies" including the deaths of his wife and uncle. 1 2

Mixed · 2The judge accepted that both defendants had experienced significant difficulties in their lives, and the Mirror adds that he called the victim desperately vulnerable. 1 2