Vanessa Pearce,West Midlandsand
Joan Cummins,at Warwick Crown Court
BBC
A 12-year-old girl was targeted by two Afghan nationals before being raped by one of them in a secluded cul-de-sac, a court has heard.
The prosecution told a trial at Warwick Crown Court that Mohammad Kabir tried to strangle the girl as he attempted to abduct her in Nuneaton in July, before Ahmad Mulakhil sexually assaulted her a few hours later.
Barrister Daniel Oscroft said it was obvious to anyone that she was a very young and vulnerable child.
Mulakhil, 23, has previously pleaded guilty to one charge of raping a child under the age of 13, but denies two further counts, as well as other charges. Kabir, 24 denies all charges, including attempted abduction.
Opening the case for the prosecution, Oscroft told the jury the two men appeared to be friends and targeted the 12-year-old in the early evening of 22 July 2025.
“Mohammad Kabir did so by trying to get her to come with him – which is the attempted abduction of a child – and also grabbing her by the neck, strangling her,” he said.
“This is a legal definition, it doesn’t necessarily mean he choked her.”
‘Young and vulnerable’
Kabir was with Mulakhil at the time, the court heard.
“The prosecution suggests that Mohammad Kabir, when he tried to take her away, can only have had some sexual purpose. What alternative could there have been?” Oscroft told the jury.
“While she didn’t go with Mr Kabir, the other person there, Ahmad Mulakhil, remained in the area for the next few hours, and later met her.
“He talked to her and led her away to a secluded cul-de-sac, Cheverel Place, where he raped her, sexually assaulted her and took indecent images of her.”
Mulakhil had “repeatedly insisted” the girl went with him voluntarily, adding he believed she looked like she was aged in her 20s.
But it would have been “obvious to anyone that she was a very young, vulnerable child,” said Oscroft.
Mulakhil, denies child abduction, two counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault and taking indecent photographs of a child.
Kabir, also of no fixed address, denies intentional strangulation, committing an offence with intent to commit a sexual offence and attempted abduction.
Additional reporting by PA Media
