Businessman Naser Mahmood jailed for Raping Girls

Naser Mahmood, aged 37, of Shipley, Bradford, was jailed for 16 years at Bradford Crown Court for sexually abusing two girls when he was a teenager.

He denied the charges but was convicted of two offences of rape and six allegations of indecent assault.

The court heard Mahmood abused the young girls when he was a child aged between 14 and 18-years-old. He abused them on multiple occasions.

Mahmood was a teenager when he began abusing the girls. Over a four year period, his offending gradually moved from indecent assault to rape.

After he sexually assaulted one of the victims, he asked her to pick up the sacred book of his faith and told her: “Promise you won’t tell anyone or I will kill you.”

The court heard how the abuse the girls suffered at the hands of Mahmood stopped when he was 18 and the victims were old enough to fend him off.

However, the sexual abuse committed by Mahmood did not come to light until 20 years later.

One victim had reported the abuse in 2012 but did not take the allegation further at the time. Police were eventually alerted in 2016.

Mahmood told officers that the victims were lying and he denied any wrongdoing. However, he was found guilty after a trial.

Abbas Lakha QC, defending Mahmood, said his client was a married father-of-two who was in charge of his family’s business.

He said: “In the time that has passed there has been no further offending and the court has heard of the unblemished life he has led.

“In the intervening years, he has built up a successful family business which employs 18 people whose livelihoods are dependent on him.”

Sentencing Mahmood, Judge Neil Davey QC spoke about the way he had attempted to silence one of the victims.

He said: “It was pointed out that she didn’t take swearing on the ‘sacred book’ seriously.

“You meant that to be an effective method to keep her mouth shut and to stop her telling anyone what you had done.

“When you made her swear on the holy book you knew perfectly well that what you were doing was wrong.”

“It’s plain that your conduct towards her over several years caused her significant harm.”

As reported by The Telegraph and Argus, Mahmood showed no emotion as he was sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Following the sentencing, an NSPCC spokesperson said:

“Mahmood committed horrendous offences against these two women when they were still vulnerable young girls. Their trauma has been compounded by his callous attempts to brand them liars and drag them through distressing court proceedings.

“Both have shown incredible bravery in coming forward, and have shown that justice can be achieved no matter how long ago the offences occurred.”