Febuary 2013 Eight years in jail for Keighley park rapist A rapist who also tried to abduct a ten-year-old girl as she played with friends has been jailed for eight years. Judge David Hatton QC told Khalid Mahmood that he took advantage of a vulnerable woman when he plied her with alcohol and raped her in Cliffe Castle Park in Keighley in March 2011. Last month, a jury at Bradford Crown Court found Mahmood, 31, guilty of rape after hearing he met a woman who had lost her purse and had been trying to arrange a crisis loan. The pair had gone to a quiet area of the park and he had shared alcohol with her, before raping her on the ground. He later called an ambulance for the woman, who cannot be named, after she stumbled as they walked away. The attempted child abduction happened in July, 2012 when Mahmood made attempts to grab a girl as she played on a scooter with her friends near her Keighley home. Although the girl told a jury she was initially annoyed, she later became frightened. Prosecutor Oliver Thorne said Mahmood had left at one point, saying he would not grab the girl while her father was watching, but he returned a short time later. He put his foot on her scooter and held her by both arms. She struggled, but was unable to get away for about two minutes. Mitigating Kate Batty said there was no evidence to suggest Mahmood’s intentions were sexual. She said it was a “very sad day” for his family. “This is a decent hard-working, well educated family who are highly regarded in the local community and it is therefore with great shame that their brother, son and husband finds himself in the dock facing sentence for such serious matters.” Mrs Batty said Mahmood, who has four previous convictions for indecent assault when he was a juvenile, dishonesty, harassment and persistently soliciting a woman, was starting to realise the gravitas of his actions. He appreciates that he has not reacted well during previous sentences, but is what you might call a captive audience now,” she said. Sentencing, Judge Hatton said: “You were convicted by a jury of an offence of attempting child abduction. When you stopped a ten-year-old girl from going on her scooter and thereafter repeated that on more than one occasion. It was only the arrival of the girl’s mother that caused you to leave the scene.” Regarding the rape, Judge Hatton added: “You took advantage, there is no doubt, of a vulnerable woman. A woman you saw and immediately appreciated was down on her luck and I am satisfied you saw that as an opportunity, particularly to engage in sexual conduct with her. “To that end you plied her with drink until she became largely, if not totally, unconscious.” Mahmood, of Gordon Street, Keighley, was jailed for six and a half years for the rape and a consecutive 18 month sentence for the attempted child abduction. The judge said Sexual Offences Act provisions would also apply January 2013 Keighley man convicted of park rape and trying to snatch girl, 10 A 31-year-old man is behind bars awaiting a long jail sentence for raping a woman in a park and trying to abduct a ten-year-old girl. Khalid Mahmood was warned to expect “a significant custodial sentence” when the level of danger he poses to the public has been assessed. Mahmood, of Gordon Street,Keighley, was found guilty by a jury at Bradford Crown Courtyesterday of raping a woman in Cliffe Castle Park in Keighley on March 21, 2011. After the majority verdict of 10-2 was delivered by the foreman, the jurors learned that Mahmood had earlier been convicted of attempting to abduct a little girl in Keighley as she played on her scooter. They also heard that he had four previous convictions for indecently assaulting women. Some jurors were visibly shaken and one woman was in tears and asked to leave the court. During the rape trial, prosecutor Matthew Bean said Mahmood saw his victim was down on her luck when she picked up a cigarette butt in Keighley town centre. He offered her vodka and cigarettes and they went to the park to smoke and drink. The woman made it very clear that she did not want to engage in sexual activity with Mahmood but he had sex with her after she became so drunk that she either lost consciousness or was no longer aware of what was happening to her. She woke up in Airedale General Hospital after an ambulance crew found her with her trousers undone and bark and leaves in her underwear. In July last year, Mahmood pulled the ten-year-old girl along after approaching her as she played in the street. He got a short distance before the child’s parents came to her rescue. Mr Bean said there was no definite motive for what Mahmood did but it raised concerns about what he intended to do with the girl. Judge David Hatton QC adjourned sentencing until February 14. He told Mahmood: “You must understand and appreciate that there will inevitably be a significant custodial sentence in this case but there are issues, including public protection or dangerousness, that I must consider.”