Takeaway driver is jailed for sex attack on 12-year-old girl he then abandoned in remote country lane

Khawaja Iqbal was jailed for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl

A takeaway delivery driver has been jailed for a sex attack on a 12-year-old girl.

Khawaja Iqbal, 41, lured the youngster into his car with alcohol and cigarettes before driving her to a secluded country lane and sexually assaulting her.

He then drove off leaving her in the road.

Iqbal, of Whinstone Way, Chadderton, Oldham, admitted the assault at an earlier hearing and was today sentenced to five years in prison at Manchester Minshull Street Court.

He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register.

His conviction followed a tireless investigation into the assault by Greater Manchester Police.

Just before midnight on August 25 last year, Iqbal, who was working for a takeaway in Hollingworth, Tameside, spotted the girl walking alone in the Mottram area.

The girl got into his car and he drove to a garage where the vehicle - but not the registration number - was caught on CCTV.

The assault was reported by the girl and DNA evidence recovered, but an offender could not be identified.

GMP managed to identify the car as a Nissan Micra and narrowed it down to 192 vehicles in the area.

The owners were located and interviewed and Iqbal was forensically linked to the crime.

During his police interview, he denied the assault claiming the victim had asked for a lift , the cigarettes and alcohol - and had planted the DNA ‘maliciously.’

Det Sgt Dan Appleby, from the ‘Phoenix’ child sexual exploitation unit at Tameside, said: “Iqbal preyed on a lone, young and vulnerable girl, who he subjected to a sexual assault before leaving her stranded in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night.

“Child sexual exploitation is a heinous crime and identifying and bringing to justice Iqbal and those of his ilk is a priority for the force.

"As reflected in this case, we will do whatever it takes to track down those that offend against vulnerable children.

“Iqbal in particular is an vile individual who sought to put the blame on the victim, going so far as to suggest he had been framed by her.

“It was only in the face of such compelling evidence that he finally accepted his guilt and today justice has prevailed.”