Leeds paedophile who fled to Scotland to avoid justice is jailed

Imran Ijaz was found guilty of eight counts of child abuse after targeting a 10-year-old girl, but absconded before the jury returned with their verdict.

The 39-year-old was on the run for 11 days and was finally arrested in Edinburgh.

He was held on remand and sentenced yesterday, Friday, October 7.

Prosecutor Paul Newcombe said that Ijaz, who is from Pakistan but moved to the UK in 2019, groomed the youngster and isolated her from her family and friends.

He would touch her inappropriately, under and over her clothes, and make her touch him, turning it in to a game.

Mr Newcombe said his behaviour “confused and scared” the girl.

He said that Ijaz would “test the water” by pulling down her trousers “to see how far she would submit to him”.

Other times he would buy her sweets and chocolate.

The abuse went on for about five months.

He told her not to tell anyone and threatened to call her her a liar if she tried to speak out.

She eventually told her mother and the police were called.

Denying the offences, he even claimed the girl instigated the abuse.

After a six-day trial, he was found guilty on six counts of sexual assault of a child under 13, one of assault of a child by penetration and one of causing a child to to watch a sexual act.

Mitigating, Andrew Semple said Ijaz has no previous convictions but accepted it was a lengthy jail sentence he was facing.

He said that Ijaz, who lives in Harehills, “perhaps showed a flicker of shame”.

Judge Simon Phillips KC told Ijaz, who sobbed throughout the hearing: “You are 26 years her senior, she was an entirely innocent child.

"You corrupted her in the most cynical way.

"You exercised control over her.

"At one point you claimed she made you do it. I find that nothing could have been further from the truth.

"The abuse took her childhood innocence away from her.”

He jailed him for 13 years and two months, ordered him to sign the sex offenders register for life and handed him a sexual harm prevention order until further notice.

Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Inspector Emma Wight, of Leeds District Safeguarding Unit, said: “Ijaz sexually abused this vulnerable young girl repeatedly in circumstances that were a huge betrayal of trust.

“His actions have had a significant traumatic impact on the victim and on her family, and we hope that his conviction for these offences and the significant sentence he has received will help to reassure them as they continue to move forward with their lives.

“This successful outcome results from some excellent work by DC Nicki Vincent who painstakingly built up a comprehensive picture of the evidence that saw Ijaz convicted at court.

“He tried to evade justice part way through his trial by fleeing to Scotland but was tracked down and brought back to face the consequences.

“We will always treat reports of offences such as these very seriously and do everything we can to support victims and make sure those responsible are held to account.”