Man who fled after ‘sexually corrupting’ girl, 13, jailed for 11 years

Amir Zaman was among a gang of ten men who were given jail sentences totalling 51 years after being found guilty of a range of serious sexual offences committed against the youngster in the Beeston area of Leeds.

The girl was groomed, abused and sometimes forced to have sex against her will by the defendants who all knew she was under age. She would be given cigarettes and alcohol and contacted via Facebook with demands for sex. Zaman, 25, of Sefton Terrace, Beeston, Leeds. was given a sentence of 11 years after being convicted of four offences of sexual activity with a child.

He was the first to abuse the girl after tricking her into believing she was his girlfriend despite being nine years older than her and being married with four children.

Zaman took the youngster to a graveyard where sexual contact took place. He went on the run before the case came to trial in April this year. Leeds Crown Court heard Zaman was arrested on board a plane as it arrived back in the UK from Pakistan. He pleaded guilty to failing to surrender to custody.

Howard Cohen, mitigating, said Zaman had gone on the run as tempers were running high in the community over the offences and he had been stabbed in the knee. He said Zaman feared for the safety of his wife and children. Mr Cohen said: “He took the view that the only way to protect them was to remove himself.”

He returned to ‘face the music’.

Zaman was given a six-month sentence, to run consecutive to the 11 years he must serve for the sex offences.