🔴 PHARMACY BOSS JAILED FOR SEXUAL ABUSE OF UNDERAGE GIRL

Predator unmasked: Keighley pharmacist ignored age warnings to carry out weekend of depraved sex attacks on a schoolgirl after hunting her on Snapchat. 
A pharmacy manager has been handed an extended nine-year sentence at Bradford Crown Court after being found guilty of a series of sexual offences against an underage girl.

Shahzad Hussain, 27, of Browsholme Street, Keighley, was told by Recorder Richard Paige that he posed a significant risk of serious harm to the public following a trial last November for his offences. 

The sentence comprises seven years in immediate custody with a further two years to be served on licence, reflecting a judicial determination of dangerousness. Hussain was also made the subject of a 15-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and must remain on the sex offenders register for life.

The court heard that Hussain initiated contact with the teenage victim through the social media platform Snapchat, where he deliberately misrepresented his age by claiming to be 21.

Despite receiving an explicit warning regarding the girl’s age between their first and second meetings, the defendant continued to pursue her and arranged to meet her on two separate occasions.

He was ultimately convicted of six counts relating to sexual offences with a child, including two counts of penetrative sexual activity.

Recorder Paige noted that the persistent nature of the offending, particularly after the defendant was made aware of the complainant's age, significantly increased the gravity of the second encounter.

During the sentencing hearing, details emerged of the broader circumstances surrounding the victim, who had been targeted by another man in a separate incident during the same year. Ahmer Hamid, 29, of Wellands Terrace, Bradford, was jailed for nine years last month for the rape of the same girl.

The court was presented with a victim impact statement from the complainant's father, which outlined the ongoing psychological consequences of the offending, including persistent anxiety, sleep disturbances, and a marked loss of confidence.

Mitigating for Hussain, barrister John Batchelor told the court that his client had been a man of previous good character who had effectively destroyed his professional career.

The court heard that Hussain, who managed a pharmacy at the time of the offences, accepted the jury’s verdicts and wished to offer an apology to the complainant and her family. Mr Batchelor described the events as a "weekend of terrible behaviour" for which the defendant had now "paid the ultimate price" through the loss of his livelihood and his liberty, noting that the defendant would have to rebuild his life entirely upon his eventual release.