Rapist who posed as 'good Samaritan' jailed

A "vile sex predator" who posed as a good Samaritan to an upset women after a Christmas drinks night out has been jailed.

Mohammed Al Masri, 25, offered to get his victim a taxi home, but instead took her to his house where he carried out the sex attack, Minshull Street Crown Court heard.

The woman said she thought she was "going to die" and was thinking about her children and "how they would be able to live without a mum".

Al Masri denied the offence and claimed sex was consensual but was found guilty at a trial in July. He was sentenced to eight years for rape on Friday.

He was also given a restraining order and handed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years.

The woman had been walking through Picadilly Gardens in Manchester, on 22 December, on her way home after a night out with a friend and was on the phone to her boyfriend.

Al Masri, who speaks Arabic and has limited English, and another man followed her and approached her, pestering her with compliments before offering to get her home when she became upset.

The pair offered to get her an Uber and she saw them type in her address and believed they were trying to help her, but inside the taxi she felt unsafe and shared her location with her boyfriend.

The taxi driver later told police the woman had passed out in the taxi and the two men had helped her out the car.

She was taken into the bedroom of Al Masri's house in Abbey Hey were Al Masri raped her, while his friend remained in the room.

The woman's boyfriend had contacted police and shared her location.

Greater Manchester Police located the address and found the woman in bed upstairs and arrested Al Masri.

The second man was arrested but released without charge, the Crown Prosecution (CPS) said.

In a victim impact statement the woman said: "I will never forget the fear that I felt when this man took me to his house. I had no idea who he was.

"I had no idea where I was, I genuinely questioned if I would leave this place with my life."

She said Al Masri tried to reassure her and told her she was going to be safe and her boyfriend was coming.

"This was all a sick lie."

"I remember thinking 'I am going to die'.

"I was thinking about my children and how they would be able to live without a mum. I just wanted it all to be over."

She added she would never be able to forget what this man had done to her.

"This man has changed me."

Det Con Oliver Smith, from Greater Manchester Police, said: "I hope the sentencing of this vile sexual predator offers her a sense of solace while she looks to move on and rebuild her life.

Anna Mackenzie, of the CPS, said: "Mohammed Al Masri posed as a 'good Samaritan' when he offered to help the woman get a taxi home after a night out, but his motives were far more sinister.

"The way he targeted a lone woman who he believed would be vulnerable through alcohol was both calculating and insidious."

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