‘Sexual predator’ lured victim into his car before she was rescued by friends who tracked her location

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A “dangerous” man who attempted to rape an intoxicated woman after luring her to his car in Leicester has been jailed.

Ghulan Mohammed, 36, was caught after his victim managed to send a message to her friends asking for help, as well as her location, which led them to rescue her from his vehicle.

Shocking CCTV footage shows his car braking suddenly as he passed the lone woman at around 9.40pm on 17 December last year, as she walked through the town centre.

After parking nearby, he can be seen walking towards her and pursuing her before they both get into his silver Volkswagen Golf around an hour later.

Over the next two hours, he drove his victim, who was aged in her twenties, around and stopped in various locations, before pulling into a petrol station at 12.40am the following morning.

In video footage retrieved by the police, the victim can be seen in an angry and distressed state and sent a voice note to her friend asking for help along with live location information.

Given that she spoke little English, a translation app on her phone showed she had used it a number of times to communicate with Mohammed, telling him “give me my clothes back” and “take me home”.

Shortly after 1.30am the car was parked in a hotel car park in Hinckley Road, where it remained with the headlights off. After following her location, her friends arrived 20 minutes later and confronted Mohammed, with the victim found in the back of the car.

CCTV also showed Mohammed followed the victim’s taxi as it headed back into the city, and only drove off after it pulled into a police station to make a report.

Over the following hours, the defendant went on to use the victim’s stolen bank card to make a total of four transactions totalling £125.14.

Due to the CCTV evidence, police were able to arrest him the following day at his home address in Burton Upon Trent, and he was charged with a number of sexual and fraud offences.

Following a trial, he was jailed for seven years and three months for a total of ten offences, including one count of attempted rape and four counts of sexual touching.

Detective constable Sarah Le Boutillier of Leicestershire Police said: “Mohammed is a sexual predator who intentionally sought out the victim that night after seeing her alone and in a vulnerable state.

“It is thanks to her friends that she was rescued from the defendant’s car after she was able to share her location data with them. I believe had this not happened further offences would have been committed.

“The swift reporting of the incident meant we were able to launch an investigation very quickly and within less than 28 hours the suspect had been identified and arrested.

“Despite the evidence against him being undeniable, the defendant chose not to admit what he did and instead caused the victim further trauma by making her relive the events of the night during the trial. I am pleased justice has now been done and this dangerous individual is no longer on our streets.”

Rape Crisis offers support for those affected by rape and sexual abuse. You can call them on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, and 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland, or visit their website at www.rapecrisis.org.uk. If you are in the US, you can call Rainn on 800-656-HOPE (4673).