A man has been jailed for 14 years for raping two teenage girls after encouraging them to drink alcohol at his flat.

Sultani Bakatash, 29, an Afghan, met one of the girls on Snapchat before inviting her and her friend to his home in Georgina Court, Bolton, Greater Manchester, on 6 December.

Bolton Crown Court heard the 14-year-old girls drank vodka and Coke and became so intoxicated they were passing in and out of consciousness before Bakatash raped and sexually assaulted them.

Following a four-week trial, he was convicted of two counts of rape, one of sexual assault and one of assault by penetration. The judge said his work with the British Army in Afghanistan might mean he was not deported.

One of the girls managed to escape from the flat and knocked on a neighbour’s door, the court heard.

She said: “He’s trying to rape my friend. She’s locked in. He’s raping her.”

The court heard Bakatash encouraged the girls to keep drinking while taking only a sip himself and complimenting them on their appearance.

Charlotte Rimmer, prosecuting, said he had arranged to meet the girls, encouraged them to drink and then seized the opportunity to rape them.

She described him as “a man, intent on sexual gratification, regardless of what they wanted”.

The court heard both girls became so drunk they passed out and each witnessed the other being raped and sexually assaulted.

Sentencing Bakatash, Judge Kenderik Horne said he was sure the defendant had used force to overcome physical resistance.

“You encouraged them to keep drinking,” he said.

“You did that so they would become so drunk they would not be able to stop you having sex with them.”

Bakatash initially claimed the teenagers had initiated and consented to sex.

He then said he could not remember what had happened before later denying any sexual activity had taken place.

The judge told him: “You told the jury you had not engaged in any sexual activity. That was a lie, the jury saw through your lie.”

The court heard one of the girls had suffered severe psychological harm, while the effects of the sexual assault on the other would stay with her for life.

A probation report said Bakatash did not acknowledge his offending and assessed him as posing a continued high risk to women and girls.

Bakatash fled the property after the offences and was arrested two days later at his brother’s house.

The court heard he had been in the UK for two years and had indefinite leave to remain, with his mother, two brothers and two sisters also lived in the country.

Umar Shehzad, defending, said Bakatash had been shot and injured while working with the British Army in Afghanistan.

He said Bakatash had left Afghanistan out of fear following the Taliban takeover in 2021 and had felt “overwhelmed” by living in a foreign country.

The judge said Bakatash could be deported after serving two-thirds of his sentence, but added this might not happen because he had worked with the British Army and fled Afghanistan in fear following the Taliban takeover.

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