- Asif Ghanbari started a new life in the UK after fleeing Afghanistan in 2008
- He was dumped at Stafford Services on M6 after arriving in country on lorry
- He worked as an interpreter for British Army for visits to his home country
- After becoming lonely in UK, he lured teenager online under a false name
- Posing as 'Jack Nelson' he persuaded 13-year-old girl into meeting with him
- They started to have regular sex and she had abortion after getting pregnant
- 19-year-old was sentenced to 32 months in a young offenders' institution
Asif Ghanbari, 19, of Stoke-on-Trent, was sentenced to 32 months in a young offenders' institution after grooming and having regular sex with the schoolgirl
An illegal immigrant who was hired as an interpreter for the British Army after fleeing war-torn Afghanistan groomed a schoolgirl on Facebook and got her pregnant, a court heard.
Asif Ghanbari, 19, started a new life in the UK after he was dumped at a service station on the M6 after fleeing to Britain on the back of a lorry in 2008.
However, Ghanbari, of Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in a young offenders’ institution today after pleading guilty to sexual activity with a child.
Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard how Ghanbari fled the war-torn Helmand Province six years ago and forged a new life after being dumped at Stafford Services on the M6.
He set up home in Stoke-on-Trent and began training with the British Army to work as an interpreter for future visits back to Afghanistan.
However, in his desperation to find a girlfriend, he posed under a false name of Jack Nelson on Facebook and lured the teenage girl, who was 13 at the time, into meeting him.
He took the youngster - who cannot be named - on a string of dates before their relationship blossomed.
They started to have sex regularly and by the age of 14, the girl got pregnant and had an abortion.
Prosecutor Rupert Jones said: ‘He used the name Jack Nelson. A couple of weeks after making contact he suggested they meet.
‘They met in Hanley Forest Park and he arrived in his car. She told the defendant her age.
Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard how Ghanbari (pictured) fled the war-torn Helmand Province six years ago and forged a new life for himself in the UK after being dumped at Stafford Services on the M6
Appearing in court today, the former asylum seeker pleaded guilty to an offence of meeting a child following sexual grooming and another of sexual activity with a child.
Catherine O’Reilly, mitigating, said: ‘He was reaching out for some comfort, a relationship, some kind of family life. He adopted the name because it was a western name. He wanted a girlfriend.
‘He has made a massive mistake, a massive error of judgement.’
Miss O’Reilly said Ghanbari is intelligent and has been recruited as an Army interpreter. She asked Judge David Fletcher to step back from passing an immediate custodial sentence.
But the judge sentenced Ghanbari to 32 months in a young offenders’ institution and placed him on the sex offenders’ register for life.
Judge Fletcher said: ‘It could not be said that you were under any misconception about the age of that woman. Her details were on the Facebook site.
‘On the first occasion she made clear to you she was the age she was. She was between 13 and 14. You admitted you had unprotected sexual intercourse with her, you say on 17 occasions.’
A children’s charity today condemned Ghanbari’s actions and highlighted the dangers the internet poses to youngsters.
NSPCC official Sandra McNair said: ‘This sad case highlights, once again, the urgent need to educate young people on how to keep safe online, so they can be protected from grooming and exploitation.
‘Peer-to-peer abuse is a growing concern and highlights the vital need to educate young people about healthy and respectful relationships.'
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