Man, 54, 'impregnated 15-year-old girl after he took her to Scotland for a month'

26.04.2022 - 22:21 / dailyrecord.co.uk

A 54-year-old man impregnated a 15-year-old after he allegedly took her to stay Scotland for a month.

Jawwad Akram denies sexual activity with a child and facilitating the travel of another person with the view to exploitation between August and October 2021.

Harrow Crown Court heard on Tuesday that Akram repeatedly denied having sex with the teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, after he was first arrested.

Heather Stangoe, prosecuting, told the court that the girl later discovered she was pregnant and after she had an abortion, DNA analysis showed Akram was the biological father.

Jurors previously heard that the 15-year-old first went missing in August after her family refused to allow Akram to marry her.

The defendant allegedly took her to stay in a rented flat in Dundee and the girl's mother did not know the whereabouts of her daughter until more than a month later.

In September, staff at a London hotel called the police after they became concerned about the age difference between Akram and the girl when they checked in.

Akram was arrested and bailed under the condition that he did not contact the girl, who was put into foster care the next day.

The girl then went missing from her foster family's home in Kent in October and Akram had allegedly made arrangements to take the girl back to Scotland again.

He was arrested at his home in Edgware, North London, several days later and the girl was found safe in a Dundee flat the following day.

The court heard on Tuesday that Akram denied having sex with the girl during his first police interview in September.

In a transcript of the interview, read out to the court, he repeatedly answered "no" to questions about whether they had ever had any sexual relations.

Akram, who is