A MAN who kidnapped and raped a 16-year-old girl as she walked home from a night out in Bradford nearly two decades ago has been jailed.

Mohammed Rouf Ahmed, 50, from Bradford was sentenced to 13 years in prison at Leeds Crown Court on Friday after earlier pleading guilty to the attack, which happened in March 2000.

He will serve ten years in custody after the court took his plea and probation report into consideration.

Ahmed was caught after detectives from West Yorkshire Police’s cold case team reopened their investigation and were able to identify his DNA profile from the victim’s clothing.

He was arrested and charged in December 2017.

Ahmed was also jailed for 10 years back in 2010 when he was found guilty after a trial of repeatedly raping a young mother on an isolated farm track.

The court heard the “predatory” mini-cab driver targeted the vulnerable 19-year-old after the taxi she had ordered did not turn up.

Courageously speaking after yesterday’s sentencing, Ahmed’s victim from 2000, now 34 years old, paid tribute to the bravery of the girl who came forward in 2009, as otherwise his DNA would not have been on file.

“It’s an emotional day,” she said, adding she had only felt “at peace” once he had pleaded guilty.

“You never really come to terms with it, you hope to live with it.”

However. she praised the support network around her and said she has gone on to lead a good life despite what has happened to her.

She added: “There’s a lot of people out there, not just women, who have had this horrendous thing happen to them, I want them to know there’s a world of love and support out there.”

And she said the “monsters” responsible will spend the rest of their lives “waiting for a knock on the door” and praised the diligence of patience of the officers who worked on her case.

Detective Superintendent Jim Dunkerley from West Yorkshire Police’s Homicide and Major Enquiry Team said: “Ahmed coldly abducted and attacked a vulnerable girl at as she walked from her home from a night out in Bradford and deserves to be in prison for what he did. Ahmed denied his involvement when arrested but later pleaded guilty in court when confronted with the strength of the evidence against him. Today’s sentencing once again illustrates to victims of historical sexual offences that West Yorkshire Police continue to work to bring justice for them.

He added: “The main aim of the Cold Case team is to get justice for victims – as a force we never close a crime until we have achieved justice for a victim.

“Scientific advances in forensic techniques coupled with the determination of my team to get justice for victim’s means any criminal like Ahmed who thinks they have got away with a serious crime needs to be looking over their shoulder.

“Those criminals need to be fearing that knock on the door to tell them that their life as they know it is coming to an end.”