A SPEEDWELL man who raped a girl and a woman during violent controlling relationships has been jailed for 12 years.
A court heard Suleman Aqeel, aged 23, used Snapchat and other social media apps to groom and then meet young girls.
He would offer them rides in his orange BMW car and ply them with alcohol before sexually abusing them, sometimes when they were asleep.
Avon & Somerset police said Aqeel filmed many of his offences on a mobile phone, and threatened to disclose intimate videos and images to control his victims.
He was also violent or threatened violence against them, used degrading and insulting language, and damaged their possessions.
Aqeel, of Elstree Road, used a tracking device on one victim’s phone to control her.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of rape and sexual assault of a woman, raping a girl aged under 16, controlling and coercive behaviour with violence, taking indecent images of children, intentional strangulation, meeting a child following sexual grooming, and sexual activity with a child.
One of the rapes took place after he drove his victim to Badock’s Wood in Southmead.
Aqeel was arrested in June last year. At Bristol Crown Court in September he was sentenced to 12 years in prison, plus a further five years’ extended licence after the end of the sentence.
Both his victims were in court to face Aqeel, to and tell him and the judge about the effect his crimes had on them.
‘He treated me like an animal’
One said: “He disintegrated me as a human and treated me like an animal. He made me feel like I didn’t have a purpose.
“I feel like no one can ever shock me in the way they treat me now.
“He’s made me so scared of doing things wrong, and I overthink everything I do.
“When I found out he pleaded guilty to some of the things he had done, some weight came off my shoulders. I couldn’t have lived with myself knowing he was out there and doing it to someone else.
“I wouldn’t wish that kind of relationship on my worst enemy.”
The other said: “He made me do things a child should never be involved in.
“He took away my innocence, which is something I can never take back.
“He got me at my most vulnerable position, so he had full control and was in a place of power to take advantage of me.
“Even though he changed my life in ways, I’ll never forget what he did to me.
“I work towards my goals and aspirations way harder now than I ever have. I’m motivated to do better every day.”
The case was brought to court by the police specialist rape and sexual assault investigation team, Operation Bluestone.
‘Incredible strength’
Investigating officers DC Sacha Hooper and DC Florence Dickinson commended the bravery of Aqeel’s victims in coming forward and supporting the investigation.
They said: “We recognise the incredible strength they have shown in engaging with us and the criminal justice system.
“In doing so, these young women have helped us put a dangerous offender in prison for a significant period of time, therefore preventing him from causing further violence against women and girls, and we hope it gives them the closure and justice they deserve.”