Man jailed for raping 14-year-old girl in Leicester

A Leicester man has been jailed after being found guilty of raping a 14-year-old girl. Aluwas Razak, 30, approached the girl in Leicester city center before buying her alcohol and sexually assaulting her, Leicestershire Police said.

Razak, of Stretton Road, Westcotes, Leicester, bought the girl food and took her to the cinema before sexually assaulting her at a hostel in Hinckley Road, Leicester. CCTV footage released by the force showed Razak buying vodka from a nearby shop and withdrawing cash to pay for the camera.

The force said when the rape was initially reported there was little information about the suspect or the scene, but “a team of specialists has been working around the clock – carrying out vital inquiries to identify the person responsible”. Razak was arrested after officers “went through hours of CCTV footage to find the suspect’s face”, police said.

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The girl, now 15, told specialist officers she was approached and befriended by an unknown man while walking in Leicester city center on the afternoon of the offence. She said that after buying her food and taking her to the movies, he took her to an unidentified location and sexually assaulted her.

From the information provided, officers obtained CCTV footage from city center cameras and went through the footage to piece together the movements of the two. This led officers to identify the crime scene as a guesthouse.

On the evening of Tuesday, July 25, while making inquiries near the guesthouse, Detective Constable Sophie Bruce spotted what appeared to be the suspect turning onto Stretton Road and entering an address, police said. After calling for additional backup, the detective then entered the home and arrested Razak, the force added.

Razak was charged the next day with three offenses – two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault against the teenager. Following a trial at Leicester Crown Court in January, he was found guilty of the three offenses and was jailed for 11 years on Tuesday (July 16). He will be subject to a lifetime sexual harm prevention order, the force said, and has been placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register.

Following sentencing, Detective Inspector Kevin Hames, from the Child Abuse Investigation Unit (CAIU), said: “Razak approached a young woman who was alone and, after gaining her trust, abused her that power to commit the most horrible crimes. Throughout her ordeal, the girl showed incredible strength. It took extreme courage to share the details of what happened so officers and staff could carry out a thorough investigation.”

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