A teenage asylum seeker who raped a woman in a shop toilet in Wednesbury has been sentenced to seven years in custody, with an extended three-year licence. Wahidullah Hotak, now 18, was convicted of one count of rape after taking advantage of a 24-year-old woman who entered the store asking to use the toilet.
The incident occurred on February 27 last year, when the victim, who had been drinking at a Wetherspoon's pub, entered the shop where Hotak was working. She was intoxicated and desperate to use the toilet. Hotak led her to a small room but then forced her to perform a sex act.
Hotak denied the offence, claiming the victim initiated the act, but a jury convicted him. At Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday, May 7, Judge Simon Drew KC declared him a 'dangerous offender' and sentenced him to seven years' imprisonment with an extended three-year licence.
The sentencing was delayed due to a dispute over Hotak's age. Prosecutors believed he was 26, but a document from the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs confirmed his date of birth as September 8, 2007, making him 17 at the time of the attack. Judge Drew noted that had Hotak been an adult, the sentence would have been ten years before mitigation.
The court heard that Hotak arrived in the UK in 2023 and had his asylum claim rejected, but he intended to appeal. His immigration status will be determined by the Home Office or an immigration tribunal.
Prosecutor Colin Phillips described how the victim had been out with a male friend, consuming wine and shots until she became quite drunk. She left the pub and separated from her friend, then entered the shop seeking a toilet. The victim had no clear recollection of the assault due to alcohol and shock, but she was certain Hotak forced her into the sex act. After the attack, she left and told her friend, who called the police. Officers shut down the shop, and Hotak later attended West Bromwich police station, giving a statement claiming his DNA would not be found on her. However, his DNA was recovered from her underwear.
In a victim impact statement, the woman described the ordeal of attending a Sexual Assault Referral Centre as 'degrading and embarrassing.' She said her mental health had been 'massively affected' and she could not even say the word 'rape' aloud. A bar worker, she found it hard to be around men at work, and said she had gone from 'happy and confident to sad and lonely,' adding the attack had 'destroyed' her family.
Francesca Perera, defending, said some character references spoke highly of Hotak, who had a difficult upbringing fleeing Afghanistan. He had worked in the canteen at HMP Birmingham while in custody.
Judge Drew told Hotak: 'You took advantage of the victim in this case. When she asked to use the toilet in the shop in which you were working, you took her to the rear of the store and during that time you must have realised she was intoxicated and very vulnerable.'
