Man plied young girl with drugs and food before leading her down a dangerous path

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1. >A “manipulative” man lured a vulnerable child into the dangerous world of drug dealing. Najib Arab plied the girl with free cannabis and food and gave her attention, then used her for sex and to package and deliver cannabis for him.

   >Cardiff Crown Court heard Arab is a refugee from Afghanistan whose real age is uncertain and who had a previous conviction for dealing Class A drugs. Making him the subject of an extended sentence the judge said she was satisfied he should be considered a dangerous offender who poses a risk in particular to girls under 16.

   >The court heard the victim in the case met Arab after she travelled to central Cardiff with a friend looking to buy cannabis “spliffs”. The girl was given the defendant’s number and contacted him on Snapchat. Arab asked the girl to send him a picture of herself which she did, and the pair met in the city centre.

   >The court heard defendant told the girl he was from Afghanistan and was aged 17, though in reality his genuine age is not certain with Arab having four different dates of birth on official systems variously putting his age somewhere between 27 and 33.

   >After meeting the pair went to the defendant’s bedsit where he gave her three free cannabis cigarettes and was “flirtatious” with her before they “quickly” had sex.

   >This was to be the start of an exploitative relationship between the child and the defendant. The girl made a series of visits to the defendant’s property where she was given food and drugs, and the pair engaged in sex. On a number of occasions the defendant collected the child in a taxi from where she lived.

   >The court heard Arab then began using the girl in his drug dealing business, instructing her to package cannabis deals and then showing her how to conceal deals in her mouth and getting her to do the wraps and make deliveries on his behalf, often ferrying her around on his electric bike. On one occasion he took her to a drugs den where people were preparing crack cocaine deals.

   >While police were rescuing the victim the defendant turned up at the property with two other young girls before fleeing over a garden fence. He was arrested a week later around Cardiff Central railway station.

   >Najib Arab, of Mackintosh Place, Roath, Cardiff, had previously pleaded on the day to trial to being concerned in the supply of cannabis and being concerned in the supply of ketamine, and had been convicted at trial of requiring a person to perform forced or compulsory labour contrary to the Modern Slavery Act when he returned to the dock for sentencing. He has one conviction for three offences from 2018 – possession of crack with intent to supply, possession of heroin with intent to supply, and possession of a bladed article.

   >William Chipperfield, for Arab, said the defendant found himself in the UK as a refugee and “to a certain extent has himself been a victim of trafficking”. He said it was accepted it must have been a frightening experience for the girl and “nobody would want their daughters in similar circumstances” but said his client had never meant to cause the girl psychological harm and said Arab’s drug-dealing lifestyle meant the teenager’s experience was “an unfortunate circumstance of the life that he was living at the time”.

   >She said the defendant gave the child drugs and food as part of plan to “lure” her into his criminal activity and his control, which he maintained by “implied violence”. She said Arab’s actions had had had a “very destructive effect” on the teenager. The judge noted the defendant continues to blame his young victim and does not take responsibility for what he has done.

   >Judge Crowther said she was satisfied on the basis of everything she had read and heard about the defendant that he should be considered a dangerous offender who posed a risk to young girls in particular those under 16 and an extended sentence was necessary. She said she would use the date of birth which had previously been used in immigration proceedings which made Arab’s age 29.

   >Arab was made the subject of an extended nine-year sentence comprising seven years in custody and a two-year extended licence period. The defendant must serve two-thirds of the custodial element of the sentence before he can apply to be released but it will be for the Parole Board to determine if he is safe to be let out and, if so, under what conditions.

   No mention of the age of the child, although he’s a risk to girls under 16. One would hope the lack of charges relating to the sex would mean she was overage and taken advantage of, rather than the system declining to prosecute the rape of a child.

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3. I am anti-Reform (seriously they will ruin the country, no ethical or philosophical integrity, completely incompetent and literally owned by Farage as another of his self-service projects) but something has GOT to change. You should not be obliged to continue to provide safe harbour to someone to breaks the law repeatedly and/or for serious offenses like this.

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