Prison for runaway child abductors

JAILED: Ahmed

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TWO Oldham men who picked up a runaway girl in their car have each been jailed for 18 months for child abduction.

Shofiqul Islam and Shamim Ahmed, then both 21, were caught red-handed having a 1.40am liaison with the 14-year old in a secluded car park in Chadderton.

The youngster had been reported missing from home the previous evening and agreed to get into the car after being spotted in the street.

Both men were arrested by officers involved in the police investigation Operation Messenger which tackles the issue of adult men preying on vulnerable teenage girls in the Oldham area.

Inquiries revealed the 14-year old girl — described as “out of control but vulnerable” — had already been involved in another unrelated incident involving two different men which led to them also being jailed.

Tesco shelf stacker Islam, of Raven Avenue, Chadderton, and bus driver Ahmed, of Broom Street, Oldham, denied any sexual intent but were found guilty of taking a child without parental consent after a trial.

There were gasps in the public gallery as Judge Roger Thomas QC told both men: “I have to pass a sentence to reflect the concern about this situation.

“I have to send a message out to others who may think about offending in this way, not to do so. You picked up a girl when she was then 14 and you then 21 and you took her to a secluded part of a car park.

“Police found you there before too long. They knew this girl and were able to retrieve her.

“Girls of her age, however out of control or however willing they may be to join you in your car in the late hours or early morning, have to be protected by the law.”

Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, heard the incident occurred in June, last year.

In police interview Islam and Ahmed both said they believed the girl was 18.

But Ahmed admitted he had asked her which school she went to, although he later claimed he actually meant to ask the girl what school she used to go to.

The court heard she had been involved in an earlier incident in which she jumped into a waiting car while being pursued by social workers from her children’s home.

The two men in the car were jailed for 12 months each at an earlier hearing.

In mitigation for Ahmed and Islam, defence counsel Miss Charlotte Holland said there was no sexual activity between the girl and her clients. She said Ahmed and Islam were both men who were close to their tight knit families.

After the case Det Sgt Jason Byrne from Oldham’s Messenger Team said: “The idea that these men believed this 14-year-old girl was 18 seems unbelievable.

“It is an offence for an adult to take a child without consent from a parent or guardian and we will pursue a prosecution against anyone who does this.

“I hope this prosecution will act as a warning to any men who think it is acceptable to take children like this. This behaviour will not be tolerated and we will take all possible action to make sure the people responsible are brought to justice.”