Mourad Malki was jailed for life
Mourad Malki, also known as Sid Ali Djelid(Image: GMP)
A woman who was raped by a serial predator whilst on a night out in Manchester city centre has spoken about the devastating impact it has had on her life.
Mourad Malki, also known as Sid Ali Djelid, ‘lay in wait’ before attacking the woman and two men, over the course of five months around Manchester’s Canal Street. He also went on to rob a phone and bank cards from a third man after luring him away to a secluded area.
Manchester Crown Court heard that the woman had gone into the city centre for a few drinks in February last year. She had visited a number of bars on Canal Street, and was ‘extremely drunk’.
At some stage she ended up in a car but could not recall how and why, before she was dragged out and raped twice by Malki in a doorway. He then stole her phone. She was later able to track him to his address in Cheetham Hill using the ‘Find My iPhone’ feature.
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Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, the woman said she is now a shell of her former self. Neither her, or the other victims, can be identified for legal reasons.
“I never thought something like that would happen to me. It has taken so much from me,” she said.
“I split up with my partner just before the sentencing. I should have opened up more and talked more to her.
“It’s impacted me in so many different ways. It’s taken so much happiness from me. I’ve become very analytical, seeing things that aren’t there. I am full of hurt and pain and resentment.
“I’m a shell of a person. It’s like I’ve got some other person inside of me that’s not me. I’m not me anymore, I look the same but I’m not the same.”
She said she has been left feeling ‘ashamed, embarrassed and damaged’. After the attack she said she turned to alcohol, and was drinking up to a litre of vodka a day to ‘numb the pain’.
“I used alcohol to numb things, then the next day I would be sober and it would make it ten times worse so I would feel I would have to drink again. It was a vicious cycle,” she explained.
She said the incident made her question her sexual identity, and made her push people away.
Manchester Crown Court, Crown Square(Image: M.E.N.)
Speaking about the incident, she said the last thing she remembers was leaving the New Union pub, on Princess Street.
“I remember going to leave, then it’s a blank,” she said. “Did I say something? Did I do something? I don’t know. Everything from then up until the location [of the incident], I haven’t got a clue.”
During the trial earlier this year, CCTV was shown to the court of the incident where the woman was raped. When she gave evidence, she had to watch the footage and be quizzed about what happened.
“It was like watching myself on TV but it’s not me. And I don’t have a memory of it happening,” she said. “I had to watch it three times. They asked if I was OK to watch it and I said yes as I thought it would help, but I never wanted to see that.
“All of those people were looking at it and it was being analysed and I was being analysed.
She described the trial process as ‘absolutely shocking’.
“It was very nerve-wracking. When I got to being in that witness box, answering those questions, it was like I was the one on trial. Just horrible,” she said.
She said the support she has received from Greater Manchester Police and her Independent Sexual Violence Adviser had been ‘amazing’.
“I do now feel I have got closure, he is in prison. He got his sentence. It’s not just justice for me, it’s justice for everybody,” she said.
“I refuse now, despite everything that’s happened, to let this define me anymore. I want to get better. I just want to be me again.”
She added: “For anyone else going through anything similar, I would tell them to talk, be open and honest, and make sure you talk to someone, don’t bottle it up. Make sure you report it.
“The police were there to help and they were amazing. At the time, I just thought if I don’t talk about it it’s going to eat me up.”
The court heard that another of Malki’s victim, a male, was visiting Manchester for work purposes in June last year. During the night they had gone out for a few drinks in The Village, before he went outside for a cigarette by himself.
He was then approached by the defendant before they walked to Richmond Street. “He cannot remember the conversation or why he would then leave with this male,” said prosecutor Emma Kehoe.
The defendant then ‘aggressively’ raped him twice in an alleyway before stealing his phone. He also stole his watch and gold necklace, which was a gift from his late grandmother.
Another male had gone for a night out with his partner in the city centre in July. During the evening they became separated and he went to look for him outside. He described himself as ‘very intoxicated and disorientated’.
He decided to return to the hotel but didn’t know the way, and was approached by Malki who offered to help, acting as a ‘Good Samaritan’.
The defendant then took him on a ‘completely different and wrong route’. As the man began to question the trip, Malki pushed him down and raped him. The man later realised his phone and wallet were missing.
Using ‘Find my iPhone’, it showed his phone was located on Cheetham Hill Road. There were also unsuccessful attempts to use a bank card. Malki has since pleaded guilty to theft against him and a fraud offence.
He denied the sexual offences, but was found guilty of five counts of rape, one of theft and one of fraud. He had previously pleaded guilty to three offences of theft.
Malki, 39, of no fixed abode, was jailed for life to serve a minimum period of 16 years in prison. Of that he must serve two thirds of the term, namely 14 years and 291 days before he will be considered safe to be released into the community by the Parole Board.
He was also placed onto the Sex Offenders Register for life.