Telford ex-taxi driver jailed over sex with girl

Mohammed Islam Choudhrey was said to have handed over more than £600 to the teenager in a just a few months. At Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday Choudhrey was sentenced to prison for a total of two-and-a-half years.

He had admitted a charge of paying for the sexual services of a child between January and December, 2009.

Judge Michael Challinor told Choudhrey that he had 'cynically used the young girl for sexual purposes'.

He said Choudhrey's actions had been persistent and the harm to the Telford teenager was immense.

Judge Challinor said he accepted that Choudhrey was not part of a predatory gang and that he had been kind to the victim.

"But the offence is serious and the age difference makes you dangerous to young girls who must be protected," he said.

Choudhrey, of Solway Drive, Sutton Hill, Telford, was made the subject of a Sex Offences Protection Order for the next seven years. The judge ordered that a second allegation of paying the girl for sex should lie on the file.

At court yesterday Miss Deborah Gould, prosecuting, said that Choudhrey's plea represented a persistent course of conduct over a period of several months.

She said that Choudhrey met the victim, who cannot be named, when she was 16 and he would give her lifts, food, alcohol and cannabis.

Miss Gould said the teenager had already been heavily exploited by two other men who were controlling her as a prostitute.

Choudhrey became a customer, paying £50 each time, and changed the teenager's actions towards working as a prostitute in her own right.

Mr Denis Desmond, for Choudhrey, said his client had not corrupted the girl and had treated her well and gave her gifts. The money came later.

He said Choudhrey had been unaware that the other men were getting the cash from the girl.

Mr Desmond said that as a result of the case his client had been disowned by his family and ostracised by the local Muslim community.

By Arthur Mills