Predatory Iraqi immigrant who claimed asylum begs to
leave Britain and return home as he is jailed for string
of sex attacks
- Rasul Abdullah told the judge ‘I don’t want to stay in this country anymore’ after he got four years in prison
- He groped two women in a nightclub and then sexually assaulted a mother while on bail
- The Iraqi Kurd had previously battled to get indefinite leave to remain in the UK
- He will serve his jail term in a British prison and could be deported afterwards
PUBLISHED: 10:13, 29 August 2012 | UPDATED: 10:18, 29 August 2012
Vile: Rasul Abdullah is a serial sex attacker who had previously won a legal fight to stay in Britain but has now begged to leave
An immigrant sex attacker who managed to claim asylum in Britain begged to go home to Iraq after he was jailed for four years.
Rasul Abdullah, 31, was branded a ‘menace’ and a ‘sexual predator’ after he groped two women in a nightclub on the same night and then took a young mother captive and molested her while on bail.
Abdullah begged a judge at Burnley Crown Court in Lancashire to send him back to Iraq saying he ‘no longer wanted to stay in Britain’ after he was convicted of two charges of sexual assault and one of assault by penetration.
The offences occurred over a three month period after Abdullah, an Iraqi Kurd, was allowed by the Government to remain in the UK indefinitely.
He will now serve his sentence in a British jail and could be deported afterwards.
One of the nightclub victims said her once confident personality had dissolved after the attack and she became afraid to leave the house.
The young mother said she no longer went out or interacted with anybody and was frightened of coming across her attacker again.
Abdullah was ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for life and was given a 10 year sexual offences prevention order, banning him from entering or remaining anywhere licensed for the consumption of alcohol on the premises, between 11pm and 8am.
Sentencing, the judge Mr Recorder Nick Clarke QC told him: ‘I saw for myself the impact that these offences had on these women.
‘I have no doubt that you were a sexual predator, who took opportunities to impose yourself upon each of the three separate victims. At the time you were clearly out of control and you were certainly a menace to the women that you targeted.’
More…
Earlier Mr Joe Boyd, prosecuting, said the first offences too place just after 2am, last November 6, when one of the women was on the dance floor in Pharoah’s bar in Burnley.
She felt a hand go underneath her skirt and she jumped forward before turning to see who the culprit was.
The victim was said to be ‘very upset’ and pointed out Abdullah, as he came out of the ladies’ toilets, to the bar manager.
Abdullah was detained by staff until police arrived to arrest him. Whilst the woman was still in tears following the assault, a second woman approached her to say he had also groped her by putting his hand up her dress and touching her bottom.
Attack: Burnley Crown Court, pictured, heard about his crimes and then Abdullah’s pleas to return to Iraq
She was extremely angry and also upset. The second victim said she had seen Abdullah going into the ladies’ toilets. When she subsequently went to the lavatory, an Asian man had put his head around the door and she realised it was the same man.
Both women picked out Abdullah at an identity parade. He was questioned but bailed and the following January began chatting up the young mother after spotting her pushing her baby in a pram ouside his home.
Abdullah asked her in and ‘stupidly ; she agreed, out of politeness. But as the baby looked on, he suddenly locked the front door, grabbed the young woman and tried to hug, kiss and touch her.
She pushed him off, screamed and shouted to be let go and he finally unlocked the door and let them out.
Mr Boyd said : ‘She was extremely upset by what had happened and spoke to the headmistress at the school where one of her children attended. Police were called and the defendant was arrested.’
Abdullah claimed to officers the women who had been in the nightclub were mistaken or simply lying. When asked about the third victim, he claimed the young mother had been banging on his door demanding sex before going into his house saying: ;I love you. I love you.’
Abdullah claimed he was ‘extremely frightened’ of the young mum and added: ‘She was just after sex – I threw her out of the house.’
His counsel Martin Hackett said: ‘I concede at the outset that clearly there has to be a custodial sentence. These were very unpleasant offences.’
Before he was taken from the court dock, Abdullah told the judge, through his Kurdish- speaking interpreter that he wanted to be sent back to Iraq. He said : “ I don’t want to stay in this country anymore.”
After the case, Det Con David Greenwood commended the “ professionalism” shown by the staff of Pharoah’s on the night of the two attacks.
He said the manager, Shaun Grogan had detained Abdullah at the scene and held him until police arrived. The officer continued : ‘Without the involvement of the staff and their actions at the time, the likelihood is this man may have gone untraced and unpunished.’
