Chilling CCTV shows predator tracking woman through streets before trying to rape her

Ghulan Mohammed, 36, was sentenced to seven years and three months after he walked a drunk woman around city streets and ultimately tried to rape her in his car

This is the terrifying moment a sexual predator followed a young woman he found drunk in the street before he attempted to rape her in his car

Ghulan Mohammed, 36, prowled Leicester city centre when he spotted the woman stumbling along a path after becoming separated from her friends. CCTV shows Mohammed following the woman, in her 20s, in his car before pulling up and getting out to talk to her.

He walked the victim around the back streets for an hour before persuading her to get into his car in the early hours of December 18 last year. After she got into the back seat, he drove her to a remote area where he sexually assaulted her and tried to rape her.

Footage shows the terrified woman trying to escape by banging on the window of a petrol station and desperately pushing Mohammed away. He is seen grabbing her wrists before forcing her back into the silver Volkswagen Golf.

The brave victim was finally saved when she sent a live location notification and voice notes to her friends begging for help. As he pulled up in a hotel car park, her friends ran over to the car where they dragged her to safety.

When she was found she was covered in mud and bruises and Mohammed had no trousers on. Mohammed fled and the victim called police who launched an urgent man hunt.

Police discovered the woman, who spoke little English, had tried to plead with him to stop abusing her by using a translation app on her phone. The device revealed she had repeatedly begged him to: “Give me my clothes back,” and to “take me home.”

Detectives trawled hours of CCTV to identify Mohammed and he was arrested the next day at his home in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffs. Following a five-week trial he was found guilty of one count of attempted rape, four counts of sexual touching, one of theft and four of fraud.

Last Friday he was jailed for seven years and three months Northampton Crown Court. The court heard that Mohammed started following the woman shortly before 9.30pm on December 17 when spotted her walking on St Nicholas Circle.

CCTV shows him braking suddenly after driving past the woman, before turning left into Castle Street and parking. As she walked along Southgates and then turned in to the opposite end of Castle Street, Mohammed caught up with her and they started talking.

After walking after the woman for nearly an hour he persuaded her to get into his car and he drove her out of the city. For more than two hours the car was driven around and parked in numerous locations.

At 12.40am the following morning, the Golf was captured on CCTV pulling onto a petrol station forecourt in Groby Road. Mohammed and the woman get out of the car and the victim can be seen in an angry and distressed state.

Around 10 minutes later they return to the car and Mohammed drives in the direction of Leicester Forest East. At around 1am the victim sent a voice note to a friend asking for help along with live location information.

Shortly after 1.30am the car parked in a hotel car park in Hinckley Road where it stayed with the headlights off. The victim’s friends arrived at the hotel at 1.50am to find her in the back of the car with Mohammed.

Mohammed fled in the car and within hours he used the victim’s bank card to make four transactions totalling £125.14. Detective Constable Sarah Le Boutillier, of Leicestershire Police, said: “Mohammed is a sexual predator who intentionally sought out the victim that night after seeing her alone and in a vulnerable state.

“It is thanks to her friends that she was rescued from the defendant’s car after she was able to share her location data with them. I believe had this not happened further offences would have been committed.

“The swift reporting of the incident meant we were able to launch an investigation very quickly and within less than 28 hours the suspect had been identified and arrested. Despite the evidence against him being undeniable, the defendant chose not to admit what he did and instead caused the victim further trauma by making her relive the events of the night during the trial."

Maimuna Bappa, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said Mohammed “subjected his victim to a terrifying ordeal”. She added: “The victim had very little recollection of what had happened, other than that she was being attacked and was determined not to give in to [his] sexual advances.

“The picture of these events was clear – that this is an extremely dangerous sexual predator and that the victim has shown extraordinary courage to resist him during the attack and to give what help she can to the investigation and prosecution.”