An Afghan asylum seeker has pleaded guilty to the rape of a 12-year-old girl in a small Midlands town.
Ahmad Mulakhil, 23, changed his plea at Warwick Crown Court today to admit a single charge of rape against the child in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, in July of this year.
But he continues to deny a further string of charges related to the alleged abduction and prolonged sexual assault of the underage victim.
He is due to face trial with another Afghan asylum seeker, Mohammed Kabir, also 23, in January.
During a brief hearing today, Mulakhil, assisted by a Farsi interpreter, entered a plea of guilty to a single count of oral rape.
He entered not guilty pleas at a previous hearing to two further counts of rape relating to the underage girl, as well as two counts of sexual assault and one count of abduction.
Kabir has also denied aiding and abetting rape, intentional strangulation and attempting to take a child.
Judge Kristina Montgomery KC remanded both men in custody to next appear before Warwick Crown Court on December 12, ahead of a trial on January 26.
Details of the case were first revealed by the Mail on Sunday in August, when police were accused of attempting to cover up the immigration status of both defendants to avoid inflaming racial tensions.
Mulakhil, who crossed the Channel on a small boat, raped the victim in the Cheverel Street area of Nuneaton, between 8.30pm and 9.45pm on Tuesday, July 22.
The Mail on Sunday obtained CCTV footage from a resident’s house near Cheverel Street which appears to show a man walking with the girl, who is white.
The chilling footage was captured as the pair walked past the property at 8pm, around half-an-hour before the victim was allegedly subjected to a prolonged assault.
The girl is now understood to be receiving specialist care.
Warwickshire Police said Mulakhil was arrested four days after the incident and charged the following day.
There was a major political backlash when the Mail revealed Warwickshire Police had advised councillors and officials not to disclose the background of the suspects for fear of ‘inflaming community tensions’.
It is believed officers feared that unrest would break out like that seen in Epping, Essex, where Ethiopian asylum seeker Hadush Kebatu was charged with trying to kiss a 14-year-old schoolgirl.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and the youngest council leader in the country, George Finch – who is leader of Warwickshire County Council, claimed there had been a ‘cover-up’ of details about the alleged rape.
At the time, Warwickshire Police defended its position, saying it was following national policy in not sharing ethnicity or immigration status.
In response to the alleged ‘cover-up’, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said ‘more transparency is needed’ in the information given by police.
Police forces have since begun to disclose the ethnicity and nationality of suspects in high-profile cases.
Inquiries by the MoS in Nuneaton revealed that both Mulakhil and Kabir lived in two tax-payer-funded rented houses about 70 yards from each other on adjoining streets.
Both properties are managed by Serco, which has accommodated around five asylum seekers in each house. Serco has a £1.9billion contract with the Home Office to house asylum seekers across the country.
