Child rapist handed lighter sentence after claiming he was ‘involved in his local mosque'

Telegraph

14-05-2025

A child rapist was handed an 'unduly lenient' sentence after claiming that he was a changed person who was involved with his local mosque.
The Court of Appeal has ruled that Ibrar Hussain, 47, who was jailed for six and a half years for drugging a 13-year-old girl and raping her twice should serve a longer sentence because the judge had been too soft on him.
Hussain was one of three men including brothers Imtiaz and Fayaz Ahmed, aged 62 and 45, who were convicted of raping the girl in Keighley in the 1990s. They were jailed for nine years and seven and half years respectively.
The court was told the three supplied the 'vulnerable' girl with money, drugs and alcohol in return for sex. She was taken to various places where she was raped over several years. Many of the offences took place in the flats above the brothers' family's grocery shop.
In a victim impact statement, she said that almost 30 years after the abuse, she still suffered flashbacks and the trauma left her unable to trust people, including the services there to protect her.
Mitigating, Jayne Beckett said Hussain, who later served time in jail for drug offences, was now married with children and was a 'very, very, very different man' who was involved with his local mosque and school.
However, their sentences were referred to the Court of Appeal by Lord Hermer, the Attorney General, and Lucy Rigby, the solicitor general, to decide if they were unduly lenient.
The appeal court judges have now decided that the sentences were too lenient and have increased Hussain and Fayaz Ahmed's sentences to 10 years and Imtiaz Ahmed's term to 11 years.
'Shocking and hideous abuse'
Ms Rigby said: 'This case involved the shocking and hideous abuse of a vulnerable teenager by these three sexual predators. I referred these sentences to the Court of Appeal because in my view they were unduly lenient. I attended court for the hearing and I very much welcome the Court of Appeal's significant increases to these sentences.'
Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, criticised the failure to take tougher action when Hussain was initially sentenced by Judge Ahmed Nadim.
He said: 'This is a damning indictment of Judge Nadim's flawed approach to sentencing in this case, which reduced one of the rapists sentences ostensibly because he's now 'very, very different' and 'involved with his local mosque'.
'How does being involved in your local mosque reduce your sentence for child rape?
'It is deeply troubling that these three offenders were part of a wider group tried for similar abuse. But the statutory window for referring the other five sentences under the unduly lenient sentence scheme has now expired.
'That means justice delayed has become justice denied. This case should mark a turning point. Serious concerns must now be raised about the consistency and adequacy of sentencing across the rape gangs trials as a whole.'
Imtiaz and Fayaz Ahmed are believed to have absconded to Pakistan in 2023 and were sentenced in absentia.
Following their sentencing, Robbie Moore, the Keighley and Ilkley MP, contacted the Attorney General to complain about the sentences.