A man from Dubai flew to Britain to have sex with a 13-year-old schoolgirl he had groomed online.
Hamdan Alshamsi, 21, contacted the girl using Snapchat before spending months grooming her online.
When she agreed to meet him, he jetted into the UK and booked himself a room at a four-star hotel in Brighton.
He then ordered an Uber taxi to drive the “vulnerable” girl from her home to the seafront hotel.
Alshamsi showered the schoolgirl with gifts and then spent two days sexually assaulting her in his room.
After receiving a tip, police launched a hunt for the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and eventually tracked her down to the hotel.
They found her wandering down a hotel hallway where she became “upset and angry” at officers, telling them she just wanted to be with her mother.
Police continued their search of the hotel and found Alshamsi enjoying the spa and wellness centre where they arrested him.
A search was carried out of his hotel room where officers found condoms, a whipped cream canister, lubricant and vodka he had purchased.
At Lewes Crown Court yesterday (Wednesday 26 March), Alshamsi, of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), was jailed for six years after he pleaded guilty to three charges of sexual activity with a child.
The girl’s distraught family said that Alshamsi had destroyed the innocence of the young girl and had left her with severe psychological damage for which she was receiving ongoing counselling.
Her mother said: “He has taken away our little girl. He took away the virginity of a girl who should be learning about sex education at school and not having sex with a grown adult.
“She was honest with him and told him her age. He knew what he was doing, what he was coming over here for.”
Lewes Crown Court was told that Alshamsi made contact with the year 9 schoolgirl online last year.
The pair had exchanged messages on Snapchat over a period of months where she had openly told him she was just 13 years old.
The court was told that Alshamsi, a university student in Abi Dhabi, told the girl that he was just 16 years old and he continued to groom her online.
In their messages, they discussed having sex and he offered to travel to Britain so the pair could meet.
Alshamsi booked a flight from Dubai and landed on Christmas Eve last year. He travelled to Brighton on Friday 27 December, having booked a £250-a-night seafront room with a balcony at the Metropole.
He then contacted the girl and ordered an Uber cab to bring her to the prestigious hotel which boasts former famous guests including Princess Margaret, Sir Winston Churchill and Oscar Wilde.
Having never left home alone before, the girl arrived at the hotel and Alshamsi took her to Room 312 where he repeatedly committed sexual offences against her over a two-day period.
Working on a tip-off, police launched a hunt for the girl the following day and managed to pick up a trace from her mobile phone in Brighton.
They scoured the seafront for several hours before turning their attentions to the Metropole.
The court was told that the next day they found the girl wandering around in a hallway near the hotel foyer and took her into protective custody.
Alshamsi was found enjoying the spa and wellness centre and swimming pool on the lower ground floor.
As well as finding condoms, lubricant and vodka, police found a woman’s razor and a boxed pink mobile phone which Alshamsi had bought the girl as well as discarded takeaway food wrappers.
The victim’s family said that the sexual offences had continued to have huge and long-lasting effects on the teenager.
Her mother said that her daughter was so traumatised that she was on constant “suicide watch” and was not allowed to go anywhere by herself, even the toilet.
She told the court: “I am worried she is going to be a volcano and explode in some way. She wants life to be normal but he has taken away our little girl. She has been to the doctor’s and is on suicide watch.
“He knew what he was doing, coming over here. He got her to leave home alone.”
She said that the stress of the ordeal had led to the end of her marriage with the girl’s father as he blamed her for giving the victim a mobile phone.
Will Saunders, prosecuting, said that Alshamsi had shown clear “grooming behaviour” and had planned his trip in detail. He said the “grooming” and “planning” had all been done with sex in mind.
In mitigation Daniel Darnbrough, defending, said that Alshamsi had brought shame family on his respectable family. He said that the university student had four sisters and was “disgusted” by his own behaviour.
Mr Darnbrough said: “He is wise to the shame he has brought to his family. His father travelled over to see him at an earlier hearing and that was very difficult for him.”
Sentencing him, Judge Mark Van Der Zwart, said: “From your home you used social media to groom and lure a 13-year-old girl from the safety of her parents and siblings. She was just a child. You were anything but. This was appallingly predatory behaviour.”
The judge also imposed a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) and said that he would be deported when he was freed.
After the case, Detective Inspector Sean Booth, from the Safeguarding Investigations Unit, said: “This was a distressing case which showed the lengths Alshamsi was prepared to go to engage in sexual activity with a young teenage girl. She was vulnerable and he exploited her trust.
“I would also like to praise the professionalism of our officers from Brighton Response and our Neighbourhood Policing Team who completed an extended search of the seafront and a meticulous search inside the hotel which ensured the victim was brought safely back to her family and that Alshamsi was arrested swiftly.
“Thanks to this work, Alshamsi had no choice but to plead guilty to the offences when presented with the evidence from our investigation.”
He said that the victim and her family had shown considerable “bravery” throughout the investigation and she had received one-to-one support from specially trained officers.
He said: “We continue to encourage anyone who has been the victim of child sexual exploitation and sexual offences to come forward and report their experience to us.”
I’m not defending this Guy, what he has done is beyond anything-but how has the 13 Yr old Girl gone from not really being allowed out on her own to spending 2 days in a Luxury Hotel-her Parents must of tried calling or texting her?
And to get a Taxi from Outside her House to Hotel -that would have been suspicious-but she must of alerted someone if there was a Tip off she was in Hotel Grounds even though they found her in Hallway.
But he took advantage to a Minor to be honest, and had great pleasure doing that-shame on his Family no doubt.
But the Girl is in Turmoil, she has to Cope and her Parents have to watch-which I have no idea how they manage at home aswell-hoping she gets all the help she needs.
His prophet consummated his marriage when his wife was 9 years old.