UPDATE: |’My life was ruined before it had even begun. It was taken away from me by him’ News

Shelim Ahmed waited for his victim at the school gates and forced her to have sex with him in Rochdale

A girl who was groomed and sexually abused has spoken of her ordeal.

Shelim Ahmed, who was 17 at the time, committed the offences against his victim, who was then aged 14, in Rochdale in the early 2000s.

After contacting his victim on MSN messenger and sending her images, he went on to ply her with alcohol, waited for her at the school gates and attended her swimming lessons, the court heard.

The victim also fell pregnant during the abuse before Shelim took her to the clinic, told her to lie about her age and forced her into having an abortion. She also became reliant on alcohol and would take it into school hidden in Coke bottles during hr GCSE exams.

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The victim, who now lives in Lancashire, reported the offences to police in October 2022 and following a major investigation, Ahmed pleaded guilty to 15 counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child when he appeared at Burnley Crown Court in February of this year.

Returning back to court on Thursday (April 17), Ahmed, of Corbett Street, Rochdale, was jailed for 34 months and ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register. Because Ahmed committed the offence when he was 17, he was sentenced as if he was a juvenile.

An indefinite restraining order was also imposed, preventing Ahmed contacting the victim directly or indirectly.

Victim’s harrowing words

During the hearing, his victim issued a moving victim impact statement about the abuse. She said she was once a ‘promising swimmer, good at boxing and scouted by the Royal Navy’ before the abuse – which ‘ruined her life before it had even begun’.

In a statement to the court, she said: “At the start Shelim began to provide me with attention, and he knew my age as I was often in school uniform. He would show off by taking his top off, jumping around and showing off with boxing whilst at the gym.

“I remember that at first I liked the attention as I had never been shown any in the past. I was always the runt of my social circle; I came from a poor background, and I classed myself as the ugly one out of my mates. I always had the worst school shoes; I was poorly dressed and I never had makeup on – I was a Tomboy.

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“So, for someone to show me attention, at first it felt good, and this was new to me. I had never received compliments and Shelim would complement my bum. He managed to get my MSN account, and he would send me photographs of him just wearing his boxing shorts and he would ask me for pictures – I only ever sent him a picture of my face.

“As time went on Shelim then seemed to be with me every day. Everywhere I went he was there. He would even wait for me at the school gates, attend swimming lessons that I was having, and he always seemed to have alcohol – specifically vodka and Red Square alcopops. And when he attended the swimming lessons, he would just walk around the edges of the pool as if he owned me.

“As time wore on, he would ply me with alcohol daily and he acted as if he owned me. That then began to change how I felt. I went from feeling happy about the attention to then being fearful of him.

“I am still shocked that he could attend the swimming lessons I was having, manage to get me outside afterwards and then force me to have sexual intercourse with him after plying me with alcohol. After swimming I would then go home and play on my BMX with friends near my home and try to be the child I was at the time.

“At the time when this was happening, due to his persistence in always plying me with alcohol, I was just always drunk. I even took to drinking in school, hiding the alcohol in Coke bottles. This was just a constant theme, as each day Shelim would just get me drunk so he could use me for sexual intercourse. It was Groundhog Day each day whilst Shelim was doing this to me.

“Eventually, I became pregnant. I was 14 years old at the time and Shelim told me I had to get rid of the baby. He took me to the clinic and he waited outside whilst I went for the appointment. I told them I was a year older than I was, following Shelim’s instructions to lie about my age.

“At this stage I was frightened of him as he was very cocky, controlling and it was always his way or no way, and he even at one point made me scribe his name into my arm. I had to dress the way he was telling me to, he even made me dye my hair black. I had to do what he was saying, especially as he had control over me due to how drunk he would get me. Once I came outside after the appointment, Shelim again made me have sex with him.”

She continued: “If I had not have met Shelim, I was a promising swimmer, I was good at boxing which I was learning at the time – I was even scouted by the Royal Navy as they saw I was good at boxing.

“But due to my behaviours after Shelim I dropped out of everything. I was just drinking alcohol all the time. I stopped going to swimming galas, I even drank through my GCSEs. I had no goals in life. I was always in trouble and my drinking got that bad I was hanging around with serious Class A drug users. My life was ruined before it had even begun. It was taken away from me by Shelim Ahmed.”

Victim has shown ‘immense bravery’

Following sentencing, DC Dan Healey, of the East Rape and Serious Sexual Offences team at Lancashire Police, said: “First and foremost, I want to pay tribute to the victim in this case for the immense bravery in first of all, coming reporting Ahmed’s abhorrent behaviour to the police and then the strength she shown throughout the judicial process.

“As people will no doubt be able to gather from the victim’s harrowing statement, this offending has had a profound and ongoing impact on her. While it is not for me to comment on the sentence, I welcome the fact that Ahmed has seen the inside of a prison cell for what he did.

“I hope the outcome of this case gives other victims of this type of offending the strength to come forward, knowing that you will be believed and that we will do everything in our power to put their abuser before the courts.”

If you or somebody you know has been the victim of a sexual crime report it to us here https://doitonline.lancashire.police.uk/ or call 101.