Hodge Hill man jailed for luring and raping runaway teen at his marital home

A delivery driver from Birmingham has been jailed for luring a 15-year-old runaway into his van and raping her.

Mohammed Basharat spotted the vulnerable girl wandering the streets of Birmingham on 16 August 2017.

He convinced her to get into his van then drove her round for six hours, before taking her back to his marital home in Hodge Hill.

The 36-year-old father had told the teen he was 10 years younger than he was, and made her cover her head with a jacket, because he feared his neighbours would see that he had brought a young girl home.

Basharat let the girl upstairs to sleep on his marital bed, but later snuck into the room and raped her.

Basharat, of Twycross Grove, Hodge Hill, was found guilty of rape at Birmingham Crown Court on Monday (24 June) and jailed for seven years.

He was earlier acquitted by the jury for arranging the travel of another person with an intention of exploitation.

Detective Inspector Tony Parkes from the Birmingham Child Abuse Team, said: “Child exploitation investigations are often very challenging as they involve youngsters who have been groomed and manipulated by offenders.

“We will do all we can to protect children from sexual predators – and will always seek to take positive steps to protect victims and secure jail terms against offenders.”