24 Jul 2025
An asylum seeker who raped a 12-year-old while illegally employed at a Birmingham supermarket could be deported under a law change.
Mohammed Wahid Mohammed told the victim it was ‘not safe on the streets’ and gave her a vape and crisps at Villa Supermarket in Handsworth before attacking her in a bedroom.
Wahid Mohammed, 22, of Lord Street, Walsall- but originally from Syria- was sentenced to 12 years in prison after admitting two counts of sexually assaulting a girl under the age of 13 and being found guilty of three counts of rape by a jury.
Judge Roderick Henderson at Birmingham Crown Court also imposed an extended five-year licence after ruling he was a ‘dangerous’ offender before adding it would be for the authorities to determine the issue of deportation at a later stage.
The Home Office said they are changing the law so that individuals convicted of a registered sex offence are prevented from being granted asylum and deported.
A spokesman for the Home Office said: “Illegal working undermines honest employers and undercuts local wages – it is against the law to work in the UK when you have no right to be here.
“Since coming into power, a year ago we have doubled enforcement action nationwide with visits and arrests, including to businesses like small supermarkets and corner shops, up by over 50%.
“We are also changing the law so that individuals convicted of a registered sex offence are prevented from being granted asylum, and will do everything in our power to pursue deportation from the UK so that these vile criminals are off our streets and paying the price for their crimes.”
The girl left her home on September 24 last year, went to a nearby railway station and decided to catch the first train that arrived.
She ended up in Birmingham city centre around 8.30pm that day.
Andrew Wallace, prosecuting, told the court the victim had been helping a homeless woman despite having only “a couple of pounds on her”.
“She bought the lady a cup of tea. The homeless lady then walked her down Villa Road to Villa Supermarket,” he added.
“As soon as the defendant saw her he said: ‘You look really young. You look really cold do you want to come into the shop? It’s warm in there, I’ll get you something to eat and drink’.”
He continued: “He knew she was far away from home, there was discussion about that.
“Ironically, he told her it wasn’t safe on the streets. He coaxed her into the shop under the pretence of being concerned. Really he only had sex in mind.”
Mohammed promised the girl some food and told her to take a vape, crisps and fizzy drink from the shelves.
He then said he was going to get a ‘new drink’ from a storeroom out of the back but led her to an upstairs bedroom where he had been sleeping.
“He wasn’t lawfully working in the store, he’s an asylum seeker from Syria,” added Mr Wallace.
- https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/asylum-seeker-who-raped-child-32125501
- https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/first-picture-asylum-seeker-who-32114829
- Wahid Mohammed, who had lived at Lord Street, Walsall, was sentenced to 12 years with an extended five-year licence at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday, July 17.