An asylum seeker raped a vulnerable teenage girl in a deserted car park after she turned to him for help.

Esmail Hussaini later claimed that the 17-year-old had been a willing sexual participant but a jury disbelieved him and he was today (Thursday, December 12) jailed for eight and a half years.

The Iranian Kurd, now 25, took advantage of his victim’s drunken state after they met by chance outside Sherlock’s night club in Birkenhead at about 3 am.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that her friend, whom she had been out with for the evening, had abandoned her at the club and she was left with little money and a flat battery on her mobile phone.

Hussaini, a barber, was an acquaintance and she thought he was going to get her a taxi or take her to his home, where he lived with his girlfriend, so she could charge her phone and call her boyfriend to pick her up.

But he led her to a darkened car park behind Conway Park railway station and each time she stumbled and fell on the uneven surface he picked her up before eventually pulling down her underwear, lying on top of her and raping her.

Judge Louise Brandon told the defendant, “She went to you for help and assistance and you would have known as soon as she spoke to you and told you what her difficulties were that she was under the influence of alcohol, alone and without her telephone.”

“You led her to believe she was safe in your company but she was anything but. She went with you on the understanding you would assist her.”

She said Hussaini had "deliberately physically manoeuvred her to a secluded part of the wasteland, used as a car park, and raped her.

"She sought to stop you and told you she did not want sex with you but you ignored her clear and obvious protestations… You were well aware that she could not and did not consent to what you did to her and despite her state you raped her without any protection for your own sexual gratification.

“After you had raped her you called her a taxi and sent her on her way home while you set about manufacturing a series of lies to provide an explanation to your girlfriend and later the police about what you did that night

“You told the police she not only instigated the activity but was the one who told you to lie to your girlfriend.

“The jury concluded the only liar they heard from you was you.”

During his trial, which was a re-trial after an earlier jury failed to reach a verdict, Anya Horwood, prosecuting, told how Hussaini tried to cover up by putting his mud stained clothes in the washing machine but these were recovered.

He told his girlfriend he had been attacked by three men but when the police arrived she helped them by confirming which clothes and trainers he had been wearing that night.

He initially denied having sex with the girl, who is now 19, but after swabs showed there had been sexual activity between them, he changed his tale and claimed she had instigated it and was a willing participant.

Hussaini, of Birchwood Avenue, Birkenhead, was convicted of raping her on October 29, 2017 by a unanimous verdict.

Judge Brandon, who ordered him to sign on the Sex Offenders Register for life, said that in her victim impact statements the girl said ‘the last two years have been torture.’

“What you did has had a lasting and detrimental affect upon her life. You left her feeling vulnerable and unable to trust men… She no longer goes out as she did, her self-confidence has been wrecked.

"She lost her hob as a result of the time she needed to take off because the anxiety you caused her.”

The judge pointed out that she had also suffered injuries to her legs which had left her scarred for some time.

Geoffrey Lowe, defending, said that Hussaini is an Iranian Kurd who fled here “because of the circumstances prevailing in that country.”

He sought asylum and was granted leave to stay for five years and had applied for leave to remain permanently which will now be decided by the Home Office after his release.

While here he has worked hard as a barber and has no previous convictions. He has no family here but had been living with his girlfriend, a relationship she has since ended.

Hussaini wiped away tears as Mr Lowe told how his mum in Iran fell ill after hearing the news of the rape allegations and has since died.