A predator who asked a 14-year-old girl to penetrate her best mate, unaware he was speaking to a decoy, has walked free. Farshid Zamani, a 30-year-old Iranian asylum seeker living at a Home Office funded hotel in East London, was caught by volunteers from COBRA, a so-called paedophile hunting group, during an undercover sting that began in December last year.
Zamani, who arrived in the UK 18 months ago, initiated a conversation with a decoy on December 18, during which the account holder made it clear the girl was only 14. Unperturbed by her age, the paedophile told the youngster he wanted to ‘hug and kiss’ her; asked her for a photo of her ‘beautiful body’; and said ‘I can’t wait to see you my dear, your breasts are big’.
The pervert then encouraged the decoy, who he still believed to be an underage girl from Nottingham, to rub her best mate’s breasts and perform sex acts on her so ‘she’ll feel very c**t’, further explaining that ‘crotch’ meant ‘c**t’. Zamani also encouraged the girl to rub her own breasts and touch her lower abdomen, which he explained was ‘where she urinated from’.
At the Old Bailey on Thursday (June 6), prosecutor Henry Gordon told how Zamani was arrested after the paedophile-hunting group confronted him on February 18 this year. In a video of the sting, Zamani can be seen crouching on the floor and holding his head in his hands as the vigilantes question him about the sickening chats.
After he was handcuffed and taken away for questioning, Zamani answered no comment to most questions. When police asked if he was attracted to children, he said: “I’ve made a mistake.” He was charged and pleaded guilty to one count of sexual communication with a child and two counts of inciting a child into sexual activity.
Mr Gordon argued the case should come under the highest level of harm, because of the seriousness of the sex acts Zamani attempted to incite, and for the highest level of culpability, due to the 15 year age gap.
Defence counsel Yvonne Kramo argued her client’s culpability was limited by a diagnosed ‘mild intellectual disability’. The barrister also pointed to his experience of ‘significant trauma’ in Iran, which was his reason for fleeing to the UK, the punishments that were meted out at home, his social difficulties at the special school he attended, and his isolation while seeking asylum in the UK.
Judge Sarah Whitehouse KC said there was ‘significant’ mitigation as she suspended Zamani’s two year prison sentence for two years. While the starting point for Count 2 was five years, this was reduced to four years because of his immaturity and intellectual impairment; reduced to three years because it was only an attempt; and then down to two years because of his guilty plea.
“People seeking asylum, and refugees, are among the most vulnerable groups in society, with complex social and health needs… I accept you are suffering with loss of support and social isolation,” said the judge, “If I send you to prison, you will get no help in way you approach sexual relationships. You will emerge from prison and still pose a medium risk, and the public will not be protected.”
Zamani was also hit with 60 rehabilitation activity requirement days and a 10 year sexual harm prevention order. He must also sign onto the sex offenders register for the same period.
