Locations
Harehills Avenue, Leeds, LS8
Description
A man has been jailed after being found guilty of raping a man in Leeds.
Abdi Wahab Abdulla, aged 31, of Harehills Avenue, Leeds, was found guilty following a four-day trial at Leeds Crown Court of rape and attempt rape. He previously pleaded guilty to a charge of theft against the same victim.
He was sentenced today to seven and a half years imprisonment and will be added to the Sex Offenders Register.
The offences happened on the morning of 14 January 2023. The victim, who was 19-years-old at the time, had been on a night out and fallen asleep inside the Queens Arcade in Leeds city centre.
CCTV footage shows Abdulla enter the arcade and approach the victim, before searching him and putting items in his pocket.
The victim woke up at this point, and Abdulla is seen helping him to his feet and walking out with him.
Abdulla has gone on to follow the victim over some distance, initially threatening him with a knife and orally raping him near the Merrion Centre before attempting to anally rape him in Woodhouse Moor Park. It is after the oral rape that the victim has realised that his phone, keys and credit card were missing from his pocket.
The victim reported the offences to the police later that day.
Abdulla was made a suspect as a result of officers positively identifying him in CCTV images, and he was arrested on 12 February 2023. He was later also the subject of a forensic DNA hit.
The Judge commended the detectives involved in the investigation.
Detective Constable Jack Powell, of Leeds Safeguarding, said:
“The victim was by his own admission, and verified by CCTV footage, heavily intoxicated at the time of these offences, leaving him in an extremely vulnerable state and unable to consent to any sexual activity.
“Abdulla has taken advantage of this, firstly stealing the victim’s property before threatening him at knifepoint and subjecting him to horrific sexual offences. The way Abdulla followed him over a considerable period of time demonstrates a predatory nature and shows the danger that he poses.
“These offences have had a huge impact on the victim, and I know no sentence can or will ever make up for the awful ordeal that he has suffered. I hope though that he is reassured that Abdulla has been held accountable for what he did and that he feels safer knowing that Abdulla is now in prison.
“The victim received specialist safeguarding support throughout this investigation, and I would urge anyone who has been the victim of any sexual offence to please come forward so that you can also be safeguarded. Offences against boys and men in particular are believed to be under-reported. I want to reassure male victims that you are not alone and that there should be no stigma in coming forward.”