Man who raped teenage mum-to-be jailed

From the archive, first published Monday 16th Apr 2007.

A man who kicked, punched and raped a teenage mother-to-be in Bradford has been jailed for eight years.

Ordering that Zahir Mohammed You-nas must serve at least four years before he can be considered for parole, Judge Roger Scott told him: "This rape, in my view, is very nasty. If you assault a woman who you know is pregnant then that is a very seri-ously aggravating feature."

Imposing a sentence for public protection, the judge said he believed there was a substantial risk that 26-year-old Younas would attack any woman who slighted him in any way.

Judge Scott also awarded £100 from public funds to Nadeem Ellahi, who intervened to halt the attack last November.

Younas pleaded guilty at Bradford Crown Court to raping and causing actual bodily harm to the woman, who is now aged 18 but cannot be named for legal reasons.

He was placed under a Sexual Offences Prevention Order banning him from having contact with his victim and will also have to sign on the Sex Offenders Register for the rest of his life.

Stephen Wood, prosecuting, said the attack took place in an alleyway off Toller Lane, Bradford, close to where Younas was living at the time.

The woman was subjected to a violent assault by Younas, who had been re-leased from prison the previous month.

She was kicked in the back and dragged by her hair down the alleyway. She tried to dial 999 before putting her phone away in her clothing, but was then dragged through some gates and pushed to the ground.

Younas sat astride her and punched her several times in the face before raping her.

After she stood up, he pushed her to the floor again and punched her. Several nearby residents were alerted by the noise and came out of their homes to see what was happening.

One of them, Mr Ellahi, "behaved courageously" in preventing the incident going any further, said Mr Wood. The woman, who was 11 weeks pregnant, was taken to hospital where it was found she had a swollen face and upper lip.

Yunus Valli, for Younas, said the attack was totally out of character for his client and handed the court several testimonials.

The initial contact had come from the woman herself and she and Younas had gone drinking together in Halifax. It was after they returned to Bradford by taxi that the incident took place.

"At the time he was clearly under the influence of alcohol," added Mr Valli.

After the case, Detective Inspector Noel Devine, of Bradford North CID, said the woman had suffered a vicious attack.

He said: "We put a very strong case together and the courts have seen the seriousness of this incident. Hopefully, the sentence will give confidence to victims of rape to come forward to police without fear and with the knowledge that we will do everything in our powers to arrest and convict those responsible.

"The victim is still emotional since this attack and hopefully the sentence will give some boost to her confidence and go some way to repairing the damage already done."