A Pakistani carer on a student visa raped a bedbound woman and tried to convince the jury that she assaulted him, a court has heard.
Fazli Qadeer, 25, from Peshawar, followed his brother to Bristol to study at university and worked as a carer.
Bristol Crown Court heard how, after learning the family of an older user of the service would be away for a period, he attended the bedbound woman’s home during a shift, climbed on her bed, and told her he “loved her” and “wanted to marry her”.
He kissed her on the lips, touched her breasts, and carried out a sustained sexual attack on the “extremely vulnerable” woman, which included oral rape.
Qadeer denied raping the woman and, during the trial, tried to convince the jury the bedbound woman had sexually assaulted him.
He was found guilty of rape at Bristol Crown Court and sentenced to 12 years in jail.
At his sentencing, Jemima Lovatt, in mitigation, said the victim had treated Qadeer with “friendliness” and his “cultural background meant he didn’t understand those manners and behaviours”.
She said his “background and cultural upbringing” should be taken into account to “understand how this offending came about”.
Fazli Qadeer was sentenced to 12 years in jail after being found guilty of rape
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She said Qadeer, of Mayfield Park, Bristol, had written a letter of apology since his conviction in which he described “growing up in difficult circumstances around a lot of violence and a culture of fear”.
She said since his conviction, Qadeer had begun to disclose to his family that he had been a victim of rape when he was a child.
In a victim impact statement that was read in court, the bedbound woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said since the attack she had suffered “severe nightmares” and was unable to sleep.
She also said she was frightened by noises and feared that her attacker would come back and kill her; she added that she questioned male friends she had known for a lifetime and had been prescribed diazepam for stress.
She said Qadeer had “taken away my freedom”.
“We still don’t know if he did it to anyone else before but I know I have stopped it from happening again,” she said.
Recorder Sarah Regan told Qadeer he was of “previous good character” and it was “difficult to fathom your motive for this attack other than to consider that you did it just because you could”.
She said many character references described his charitable work and efforts to “make life better for many”.
Qadeer is the subject of a restraining order which prevents contact with his victim.
After he serves his sentence, the Home Office will review his immigration status.
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