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A former police officer who groomed, abducted and had sex with a 13-year-old schoolgirl has been jailed for more than seven years. Haider Siddique, 23, met the girl on social media and groomed her for sexual purposes while claiming to be offering her support.
He was arrested when a bus driver spotted him acting inappropriately towards the victim, kissing and hugging her, and went to police with his concerns last March. The student officer was taken into custody, where he resigned from his post before being charged with two counts of sexual activity with a child.
He previously pleaded guilty and on Friday he was jailed for seven years and seven months at Birmingham Crown Court. Judge Sarah Buckingham said that the victim had been “flattered” by Siddique’s attention, but as a police officer he should have known how vulnerable she was.
She added: “While it is not suggested you used your position to establish a relationship with her it is right that you did tell her that you were a police officer and at one stage showed her your badge. In your employment and role as a probationary and trainee police officer you must have been aware of your responsibilities to protect the public, especially vulnerable members of the community wherever possible.
“You of all people should have realised how vulnerable she was. You were clearly intent on having a sexual relationship with her. You ignored what should have been obvious that she was young and emotionally naïve.
“There was clearly an element of grooming behaviour, the targeting of a particularly vulnerable young girl who has been left utterly devastated by what has happened to her. She has left her home and this must be partly as a result of your conduct.”
She said Siddique had also told police he had suffered abuse himself when he was a child. The judge added: “It is somewhat surprising that you were able to persuade the police of your suitability as a trainee police officer.”
Siddique, of Bartley Green, Birmingham, was also ordered to register as a sex offender for life. The court heard that the teenager had met the defendant, who had joined the police in August 2021, on social media and had engaged in a relationship that was based on talking about Islam.
The offences took place in March last year when she was 13 and he was 21 and at one stage the victim feared she had been made pregnant. Timothy Ashmole, prosecuting, said the contact between the defendant and her was first noted when, on March 11, they both attended Stechford police station and the teenager made a complaint about her mother’s “abusive” conduct towards her.
She had initially said she only wanted to speak to a Muslim police officer and was encouraged to speak to social services On March 21 a bus driver based at Birmingham’s Perry Barr depot saw Siddique and the girl get on his bus. He recognised the girl and the defendant showed him what he believed to be a police warrant card.
Mr Ashmole said: “The driver saw the defendant sit close to her, talk to her, while touching her back. The defendant then got off the bus and hugged her.”
The driver also believed they kissed goodbye and thought their behaviour appeared to be “weird”. The girl’s mother was later contacted and said she had left the house earlier that day wearing her school uniform.
She said over the previous couple of months her daughter’s behaviour had changed from being friendly to “swearing and saying horrible things”. She also said she had received a WhatsApp message that purported to come from the mother of one of her daughter’s friends asking if her daughter could stay over.
She was suspicious about it and when she rang the number realised it was the defendant who sent the message. Underwear was later recovered belonging to the teenager, which was tested for DNA. Results showed a mixed DNA to which Siddique may have contributed.
A pregnancy test kit was also found, while her phone and that of the officer were examined, showing that they had sent a large number of messages to each other, including 1,068 sent by the officer. When interviewed, the victim said that she and the officer met on Snapchat and that Siddique had posted articles about women’s rights and Islam. She said that they had had sex on two occasions, including in an apartment to which Siddique had a key.
Stephen Sweeney, mitigating, said Siddique had suffered “ghastly” abuse when he was a child, suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and was “emotionally operating at the level of a 14-year-old”. West Midlands Police said the officer resigned while in custody, having joined the force in August 2021. The force said he had been off sick since November 2021 and was never deployed to an operational role.
Deputy Chief Constable Vanessa Jardine said: “This was a sickening criminal act by a former student officer, who appeared to be offering support to this vulnerable young girl but was in fact grooming her sexually”
