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A driver who targeted 10 teenage girls as they walked to school has been jailed. Adnan Khan had originally been accused of attempting to kidnap the schoolgirls as they headed back to classes following a Covid lockdown in 2021.
However those charges were dropped after he pleaded guilty to harassment and two charges of sexual communication with a child. Newcastle Crown Court heard he made sexual comments to some of the girls and left all of those he approached frightened.
Now Khan, 35, has been jailed for 15 months and was made subject to sex offender registration and a sexual harm prevention order for the next 20 years.
Michael Bunch, prosecuting, told the court: "The offences themselves date back to March 2021 and occurred over the course of half an hour that morning as the defendant targeted female pupils making their way to school in Newcastle."
The first pupil approached by the defendant was 18 years old at the time. It was her first day back after Covid-related closures and she decided to walk to school rather than her usual pattern of catching the bus. As she waited to cross a road, the defendant stopped his car alongside her and repeatedly asked her for her name.
Mr Bunch said: "She responded by pointing out that she was still in school. She moved around the corner to get away from the defendant, who responded by reversing back alongside her and again asking her name. By now, she was worried by the defendant’s behaviour.
"Despite her lack of engagement, the defendant said he would take her to school. When she told him no, he then drove off, leaving her really shaken.
"She contacted her mother by phone to tell her what had happened and later commented that she had been put off from walking to school in the future by the defendant’s conduct."
The next incident happened about half a mile away, where two 16-year-old girls were walking to school together, along with a third female pupil. Khan pulled alongside and was heard to shout, “Girl in the middle, come here, come here”. The three girls ignored him and carried on their way to school, reporting the incident when they arrived there.
The third incident occurred shortly afterwards. Three girls, aged 13,15 and 16, were making their way to school when the defendant pulled alongside. Mr Bunch said: "He shouted across to the two to ‘get in the car’, repeating this a number of times in an aggressive manner.
"When they ignored him and hurried towards school, the defendant drove off. All three girls contacted a parent immediately after the defendant left. All three were left feeling scared and uncomfortable by the defendant’s behaviour."
Around a mile from that incident, Khan came across two girls aged 16 as they headed to school. He pulled alongside and, again, shouted to get their attention.
Mr Bunch said: "Thinking he was needing directions, (one of the girls) moved towards the car, but the defendant then asked her how long she had had braces. Realising that the defendant was not seeking assistance, the two girls walked off, but the defendant continued to follow them in his car, repeatedly shouting towards them. In an attempt to deter him, (one of the girls) produced her phone and said that she was calling police, telling the defendant this three times.
"He was not dissuaded by this threat and continued to behave in the same way for a period before driving off. Both girls spoke to a parent immediately after the incident."
The last incident involved two girls aged 14 and 13 who were walking to school with some male pupils. Khan pulled alongside them in his car and spoke to the girls, referring to them as ‘gorgeous’ and ‘beautiful’.
Mr Bunch said: "At one point, (one of the girls) noticed him leaning out of his window, as though trying to reach out to them. When one of the boys approached and asked him to leave, the defendant responded by saying he was going to ‘s**g’ the mothers of all the boys.
"He turned his attentions back to the two girls, initially referring to them in similar terms to his initial approach, before changing tack and saying that he was going to ‘s**g’ them and make the two girls perform (a sex act) on the boys."
One of the girls suggested she was going to contact the police and Khan left the street. The police were contacted, with the registration plate of the Khan's car also being passed on. It was noted that the vehicle was linked to an address in Cumbria.
An image of the Khan was also available from a video clip recorded during the course of the last incident. The result was that the defendant was arrested the same day.
When interviewed, the defendant said he had spoken to some girls, but only because they had thrown a drink over his car. He denied that he had approached them, that he had invited any of them to get into his car, or that there had been any sexual content to his conversation. He suggested that the complaints were racially motivated.
One of the girls, who is now an adult, read a victim impact statement in court saying she was left worried after the offending and "no longer felt safe or comfortable while visiting the area". She added: "This made me worried about what his intentions may have been to me and my friend.
"We were school friends in school uniform who were clearly walking to school. I was worried to think what might have happened if anyone had got in the car. I believe men who target schoolgirls are dangerous and should be in prison."
Another girl said: "I was taken aback by the man's actions. I was surprised a stranger had stopped their car and spoken to me. Later, at school, I learned the same man had been stopping other girls as well."
She added that she was left worried about what might have happened if she had been on her own and got lifts to and from school in the days that followed. She said the incident made her aware "there are men out there who pose a danger to me".
Another girl said: "When the incident occurred I felt absolutely terrified. I was 14 and wearing a school uniform and it must have been obvious we were two girls walking to school.
"The fact he was calling me gorgeous and beautiful and would not go away made me afraid he wanted to get sexual enjoyment out of kids. The face he had a car and leaned out of the car made me additionally fearful of what might happen.
"There were boys there as well who were older than me and this didn't seem to deter him from targeting us. I felt a nervousness that I had not felt before. I had always felt safe After the incident I no longer wanted to walk to school.
"I became afraid of the idea there might be more men out there who might have similar bad intentions and I would not know who they were." She added that she believes men who make such remarks to passing schoolgirls "should be put in prison and should not be allowed near children."
Khan, 35 now and 30 at the time, of Bridge Street, Appleby, Cumbria, has 30 previous convictions, including for supplying drugs in 2010, fraud in 2016 and drink driving and threatening behaviour in 2020.
Recorder Mark Giuliani said Khan didn't live in the North East and "had no business being here" during what was a Covid lockdown. He added that he had taken a circuitous route to come across the children, who were heading to school for the first time after the lockdown.
Recorder Giuliani said: "You went out of your way to target children who were on their way to school."
Sue Hirst, defending, said it had taken four-and-a-half years for the authorities to "get round to bothering to charge him", with the delay causing him stress. Miss Hirst said the case had then been "significantly over-charged", adding: "These offences were never attempted kidnap. The height of it was he was inviting them to get in his car. He never got out of the car, he never touched them.
"It was a man behaving foolishly and inappropriately in a public place with lots of people around. He struggles to explain his behaviour. He knows he should not have made the comments to the girls.
"They were stupid and inappropriate but absolutely nothing was going to come of the comments and no one was at risk. He was making ill-advised compliments, if that's what they can be called, and asking if they wanted to go in his car.
"He asks me to convey tot he court and the girls that he is very sorry." Miss Hirst said Khan has since got married and he now has a baby.