Published by Robert L Senior Reporter on Thursday 20th February 2025, at 14:45hrs
He pleaded not guilty to raping the teenager but was found guilty by a jury at Preston Crown Court
A man who raped and blackmailed a vulnerable teenager has been jailed for 12 years.
Umar Farooq attacked the teenage girl and then threatened to release intimate pictures he had taken of her without her consent.
Farooq told the girl he would slit her throat, throw boiling water over a friend of hers and beat her dad up if she did not pay him. He also said he would smash the windows of her house and post the naked images of her on the neighbours windows. The teenager handed over nearly £2,000 to him before going to police.
Farooq (24/04/03), of Smith Street, Nelson was arrested and charged. He had admitted offences of blackmail, harassment, distributing and threatening to distribute personal private images but denied raping the girl, however he was convicted after a trial in December last year.
He was sentenced at Preston Crown Court yesterday (Wednesday, February 19th) to a total of 12 years imprisonment.
Farooq was classed as a dangerous offender and was given an extended licence period of 4 years taking the sentence to 16 years. He must serve at least 2/3 of his sentence before he is eligible to apply for parole
He was also made subject of a 20 year sexual harm prevention order and ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for life. An indefinite restraining order was put in place to protect the victim
Det Con Sarah Whittaker, of Burnley Police said: “Umar Farooq’s crimes are utterly despicable. He took advantage of a vulnerable teenager by raping her and then compounded his appalling actions by going on to make threats and blackmail her.
“I would like to commend the victim for her bravery in coming forward to report what happened to her – that must have taken a huge amount of courage, and I am pleased that her bravery has been rewarded with the guilty verdicts and sentence given today. I hope this gives her some sense that justice has been done.
“I also hope that the sentence delivered today may give others who have suffered similar abuse the courage to come forward and report what has happened, confident in the knowledge that we will investigate sensitively and professionally.”
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