Grinning rapist finally jailed almost SIX years after attacking teenage girl, 14, as British police admit 'unacceptable delays and failures' allowed him to live freely near his victim

A grinning child rapist able to live streets away from his victim for years afterwards because of a bungled police investigation has finally been jailed for five years.

Arman Nejad, 23, dragged the teenager into his house and abused her in October 2009 as she walked to a youth club in Moss Side, Manchester.

The girl, now 18, eventually went to police in February 2010 and was interviewed by officers who then mysteriously dropped the case.

Three years later police visited her about a different matter and she asked why her rape case was shelved, and detectives then arrested and charged Nejad with rape.

Today Greater Manchester Police admitted 'unacceptable delays and failures' allowed the rapist to live as a free man just streets away from the girl he attacked.

She has made a formal complaint about the conduct of the officers involved, and the Independent Police Complaints Commission is aware of the case, which will be investigated internally.

Superintendent Simon Retford, from GMP's Professional Standards Branch, said: 'There were unacceptable delays in bringing the case to court after the initial complaint was made.

'The victim received a service that I believe fell below the level which we strive to offer to victims of rape and other sexual abuse.

'An investigation is underway to establish the reasons and circumstances around our initial response and apparent lack of action in progressing this case.'

In October 2009, the victim was walking along Caythorpe Street, Moss Side with her friends and all were making their way to a nearby youth club.

Nejad called the girl over his house on false pretences, separating her from her friends.

Once her friends had walked out of view he dragged her into the house and raped her.

Last year it emerged that Greater Manchester Police faced ten investigations into alleged mishandling of sexual assault and rape cases.

One included a claim that a vulnerable child was able to enter the home of a suspected paedophile, who was already under surveillance.

In 2013, the same year Nejad was finally arrested, GMP chief constable Sir Peter Fahy admitted that six out of every ten crimes were not properly investigated.

Greater Manchester's officers only 'actively pursue' criminals in 40 per cent of cases reported to them, he said, with detectives effectively shelving or 'screening out' the rest because there are no witnesses or clues.

It meant that more than 106,000 crimes in Greater Manchester were all but given up by the force as lost causes.

Today the force said that it takes sexual abuse seriously.

Detective Inspector Debbie Oakes, from GMP's Phoenix Protect Team, said: 'Greater Manchester Police's Protect Team was first made aware of Arman Nejad's appalling crimes in 2013.

'As a result, a full and thorough investigation was completed that resulted in this matter being brought to court and which aided in bringing Arman Nejad to justice.

'While the Force absolutely accepts the failures in this case, we should also stress that the work of Protect and the Phoenix partnership over the last few years that has made huge strides towards protecting vulnerable people who are at risk of child sexual exploitation (CSE).

'Working with our partner agencies, we can make use of legislation at our disposal to disrupt premises where we suspect CSE may be taking place, shut those premises down and also arrest and investigate suspects so we can put them before the courts, as we have done with Arman Nejad.

'With the launch of the 'It's not Okay' campaign we are increasing public awareness of how to protect children at risk by increasing people's understanding of child sexual exploitation and how to spot the warning signs of CSE.

'Together, we will continue to tackle CSE and continue to pursue people like Arman Nejad and expose them for the criminals they really are'.

Original report here

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