"She was screaming but he said if she did not let him do it, he would kill her and bury her there."
Tariq Syed, a 64-year-old Asian sex groomer has been jailed for raping a 13-year-old girl. He then reportedly offered the girl’s mother £15,000 to leave the country.
Police held the trial at Bradford Crown Court. He received a sentence of 13 years in prison.
Tariq pleaded not guilty to counts of rape, sexual activity with a child, perverting the court of justice and causing bodily harm by attacking the mother with a knife.
While the jury cleared him of causing bodily harm to the girl’s mother, they found him guilty of the other charges.
The Bradford sex groomer first made friends with the girl’s family. Soon after, he gave gifts to the schoolgirl. The gifts included two phones, clothes and even a tablet.
While the girl’s mother felt unsure of Syed, he explained that he wanted to help the family. They were not financially well off, so he wanted to support them.
However, in September 2014, the mother learned that her daughter had been absent from school twice in the same week. Determined to find answers, she spoke to the girl about her absences.
The girl revealed that Syed had been collecting her from school. She also allegedly said that Syed forced her into having sex with him.
Horrified, the schoolgirl’s mother contacted the police. Upon further investigation, police learned that the sex groomer would take the girl into a wooded area in his car. He would lock the car doors and rape her.
Prosecutor Sharon Beattie says: “She was screaming but he said if she did not let him do it, he would kill her and bury her there.”
However, Syed claimed he did not rape her and instead took the girl to a hospital for an abortion.
Dr Nicola Cawley, from the alleged hospital, revealed that a patient had a termination that day. However, she could not confirm if the girl was the patient, but she said the chance seemed “extremely unlikely”.
Police also found his semen on the girl’s trousers. Later tests revealed the DNA of the semen matched with Syed.
Police immediately arrested Syed. However, on 30th September 2014, he reportedly confronted the mother.
Syed allegedly offered her £15,000 to leave the country. The sex groomer demanded that the family return to Romania.
After the verdict, Judge Hatton said: “You took a girl barely into her thirteenth year to an isolated location. You defiled her.”
He also added: “You had targeted her for that specific purpose. This offence was a consequence of grooming.”
Bradford detectives praised the schoolgirl for reporting Syed to the police and hope she can find some comfort from the verdict.
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