Man jailed for six years after knifepoint rape and sexual assault on Peterborough path while 15-years-old

Awais Rehman (20), previously of Watergall, Bretton, has been sentenced to six years and two months after attacking two women in the space of just six days when he was only 15-years-old in 2017.

Rehman carried out the assaults in broad daylight on a footpath near Rhubarb Bridge. On the morning of September 30, 2017 he raped one of the women at knife-point.

Duncan O’Donnell, prosecuting, told the court the woman said she had been forced to ‘decide between the knife and the bushes, and she chose the bushes.’

The woman managed to run away from him before reporting the incident to police.

Then less than a week later, at around 1pm on October 6, he sexually assaulted another by slapping her on the bottom before running off with her handbag.

After his initial arrest in 2018, Rehman was ruled not fit to stand trial in November 2018 but was tried in his absence at Cambridge Crown Court where jurors ruled he did commit the rape and sexual assault.

The investigation later featured on the Channel 4 series 24 Hours in Police Custody.

Five years later, however, he was been deemed fit to plead and pleaded guilty to one count of rape, two counts of sexual assault, one count of threatening someone with a knife and one count of robbery.

SEE: Woman who was raped at knifepoint on Peterborough footpath tells court she 'wishes she had chosen the knife' as attacker faces justice after five years

Judge Bishop explained that he had to sentence Rehman according to the age he was at the time of committing the offences and that constituted a 60 percent reduction in the sentence that would be given to an adult.

The sentence was further mitigated by the fact Rehman had no previous convictions at 15 and as well as his autism and diagnosis of a personality disorder.

It was also reduced by a third due to the fact Rehman pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

In sentencing Rehman to six years and two months, Judge Bishop passed down a sentence of four years and nine months for one of the sex assaults and 19 months for the robbery to run consecutively. The sentences for the other counts of sexual assault, and threatening with a knife are to run concurrently.

Rehman will be subject to an extended licence period of eight years and will be subject to a parole hearing after serving two thirds of his custodial sentence.

He was also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) and a restraining order preventing him from contacting his victims – both to run indefinitely.

Judge Bishop said: “I conclude that despite your vulnerabilities you are capable of being placed in a prison setting. I do accept that the impact of custody will be greater than on someone without those challenges and I will reduce the sentence to reflect this aspect but only to a limited extent.

“I’m satisfied that there is a significant risk to women of serious harm by the defendant. I agree with the probation officer that the defendant showed a limited understanding of his sexual risks and internal controls.

“The likelihood of conviction for sexually offending behaviour is considered to be very high. It is necessary to pass an extended sentence to protect the public in the future.”