Description
The offences occurred in September 2023 and throughout the last two and a half years the victim has showed incredible strength and determination to ensure the man who abused her was brought to justice.
Riaz, 29, of no fixed address, deliberately targeted the vulnerable teenager after encountering her alone in the Hamilton area of the city shortly before midnight on Thursday 7 September 2023.
The girl had left her address a short time before and had been reported missing to police.
Riaz forced the teenager to go back to his-then home address in Harringworth Road. Once there he supplied her with cannabis and raped her.
She was able to leave the address and thanks to a night shift worker, who found her at around 4am the next morning (Friday 8 September), police were called.
While supporting the victim, detectives in the force’s specialist rape and serious sexual assault team – known as the Signal team – also carried out extensive enquiries during the next few days to identify and locate the suspect and the address where the offences had taken place.
This led to officers identifying the address in Harringworth Road and arresting him a few days later.
For more than two years, the officer in the case - DC Jon Williamsn - and other detectives in the team, have continued to carry out enquiries and gather evidence ahead of the trial.
This vital work led to Riaz being found guilty of two counts of rape against the victim.
DC Williams, from the Signal team, said:
“Throughout her ordeal the victim has shown incredible strength. It took extreme courage for her to share the details of what had occurred so that officers and staff could carry out a thorough investigation.
“It has been two and half years since this incident occurred but the victim’s determination and persistence to see this perpetrator punished for his actions has stayed with her. It is thanks to her that he is now going to spend many years behind bars.”