Ahmad Mulakhil, 23, an Afghan asylum seeker, has been found guilty of abducting a 12-year-old girl and committing “extremely horrific sexual offences” in Nuneaton. The attack took place on 22 July in a quiet cul-de-sac, less than four months after Mulakhil arrived in the UK on a small boat from France.
Mulakhil appeared visibly upset as the jury delivered its verdicts at Warwick Crown Court, crying in the dock and using a tissue to blow his nose. He will be sentenced next month, reports the BBC, with Judge Kristina Montgomery KC stating that he “will plainly receive a substantial custodial sentence which will automatically make him liable for deportation at its conclusion.”
A co-defendant, 24-year-old Mohammad Kabir, also an Afghan asylum seeker, was cleared of strangulation, attempted child abduction, and attempting to commit a sexual offence. Jurors heard testimony from the victim, who described Mulakhil laughing while attacking her.
The case has prompted changes to guidance on reporting the nationality and immigration status of suspects. At the time of the arrests, Warwickshire Police said they followed national rules that did not require disclosing ethnicity or immigration details. Following public backlash and protests in Nuneaton, police were encouraged to share this information in high-profile cases.
Mulakhil had submitted an immigration application citing issues he experienced in Afghanistan. Police released footage of his arrest, highlighting the swift response to the incident.
The attack drew responses from political figures. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and Warwickshire County Council leader George Finch accused authorities of a “cover-up” for not reporting details of the suspects’ backgrounds. Conservative Cabinet minister Kemi Badenoch called the case “grotesque” and reiterated her party’s tougher policies on foreign criminals.
Badenoch called for action and called it “grotesque…on so many levels. As a woman, as a mother.” She described Mulakhil as “a monstrous creature” for targeting a child and criticized what she called the UK’s “complacency” toward foreign criminals.
Badenoch highlighted her tougher Conservative policies, including leaving the European Court of Human Rights to prevent offenders from gaming the system, mandatory deportation of all foreign criminals, and serving prison sentences abroad in countries that refuse to repatriate offenders.
Mulakhil appeared visibly upset as the jury delivered its verdicts at Warwick Crown Court, crying in the dock and using a tissue to blow his nose. He will be sentenced next month, reports the BBC, with Judge Kristina Montgomery KC stating that he “will plainly receive a substantial custodial sentence which will automatically make him liable for deportation at its conclusion.”
A co-defendant, 24-year-old Mohammad Kabir, also an Afghan asylum seeker, was cleared of strangulation, attempted child abduction, and attempting to commit a sexual offence. Jurors heard testimony from the victim, who described Mulakhil laughing while attacking her.
The case has prompted changes to guidance on reporting the nationality and immigration status of suspects. At the time of the arrests, Warwickshire Police said they followed national rules that did not require disclosing ethnicity or immigration details. Following public backlash and protests in Nuneaton, police were encouraged to share this information in high-profile cases.
Mulakhil had submitted an immigration application citing issues he experienced in Afghanistan. Police released footage of his arrest, highlighting the swift response to the incident.
The attack drew responses from political figures. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and Warwickshire County Council leader George Finch accused authorities of a “cover-up” for not reporting details of the suspects’ backgrounds. Conservative Cabinet minister Kemi Badenoch called the case “grotesque” and reiterated her party’s tougher policies on foreign criminals.
Badenoch called for action and called it “grotesque…on so many levels. As a woman, as a mother.” She described Mulakhil as “a monstrous creature” for targeting a child and criticized what she called the UK’s “complacency” toward foreign criminals.
Badenoch highlighted her tougher Conservative policies, including leaving the European Court of Human Rights to prevent offenders from gaming the system, mandatory deportation of all foreign criminals, and serving prison sentences abroad in countries that refuse to repatriate offenders.
