An Afghan asylum seeker who abducted a 12-year-old girl and filmed himself raping her has been jailed for 15 years.

The 23-year-old, whose attacks triggered large-scale protests in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, had admitted a second count of rape before his trial began.

Passing sentence at Warwick Crown Court on Friday, Judge Kristina Montgomery KC said the victim continues to suffer trauma responses and medical issues associated with Mulakhil’s offending.

She said: ‘Your victim was particularly vulnerable due to her personal circumstances and she has suffered significant and ongoing psychological harm.’

The judge added: ‘Shortly after 6pm, your victim and you met. There was an exchange between you, and you were captured on CCTV in each other’s company for a second time just after 8pm.

‘Footage from a security camera caught an exchange between you in which you asked your victim to tell you her age.

‘She said she was 19, which was an obvious lie.

‘Your reaction was incredulous and the jury’s verdict leaves no doubt that you knew she was aged under 16.’

The judge said Mulakhil ‘targeted’ the girl, who was left distressed after the attack.

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She said: ‘(After the attack), you left the area together but when you parted company, she was left alone in a park in the darkness for some time.

‘She was distressed, she was hypervigilant. Looking over her shoulder and into the woodland to see whether you were still in the area.

‘She gave an immediate account of your sexual assault upon her. She was thereafter subjected to a medical examination and questioning by the police and latterly as you contested her allegations, cross-examination in the court.’

The judge added: ‘There is no dispute that your culpability is at the highest level. You targeted your victim, having met her earlier in the evening.’

Mulakhil was told he would serve 15 years in prison and an extra 12 months on licence.

Mulakhil, who came to the UK on a small boat four months before the offences last July, showed no emotion and stared ahead at the barristers and the judge during the hearing, appearing to be listening intently to the interpreter sitting in the dock.

Defending, Marcus Harry said Mulakhil arrived in the UK when he was 22 after fleeing Afghanistan.

He told the sentencing hearing: ‘He left Afghanistan at 22 having spent 12 years at school until the age of 18.

‘He was planning on attending university to study economics but for a variety of reasons, he came under the focus of the Taliban, as did his family, and that is the reason he ultimately fled the country.

‘His brother did the same, ultimately ending up in another country. He entered this country and when he arrived, claimed political asylum and was awaiting determination of that claim.’

Mulakhil told police he believed the girl was 19 and that she had initiated what was his first sexual encounter.

He faced trial alongside Mohammad Kabir, also an asylum seeker from Afghanistan, who was acquitted of charges of intentional strangulation, attempted child abduction and committing an offence with intent to commit a sexual offence.

The victim, who cannot be identified, told the trial she was approached in a park by both defendants after playing on swings.

During her sentencing remarks, the judge told Mulakhil the jail term was of such duration that it rendered him automatically liable for deportation.

He was also ordered to register as a sex offender for life and made the subject of an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and a restraining order.

A protest took place outside the court prior to and during the hearing, with a banner being draped over railings leading to the court which read: ‘Stop the invasion, end immigration.’

In a statement issued after the hearing, Detective Chief Inspector Collette O’Keefe said: ‘When Mulakhil carried out this horrific attack on a young girl, not only did he commit the most serious of crimes, he breached the fundamental values that hold our communities together.

‘I want to pay tribute to the extraordinary courage of the victim. Her account allowed us to gather the evidence we needed to ensure Mulakhil was brought to justice.

‘No sentence can undo the trauma of what she endured. But we hope today marks the beginning of her journey toward the bright, safe, and happy future she deserves.’