Predator flew from Dubai to UK to sexually assault girl, 13, in two-day ordeal at hotel after grooming her on Snapchat
A PREDATOR flew from Dubai to the UK to sexually assault a 13-year-old girl in a two-day horror ordeal at a seaside hotel.
Hamdan Alshamsi groomed the victim for months after sparking up a conversation on Snapchat.
The 21-year-old then flew from his home in Dubai and booked himself into a four-star hotel in Brighton.
He then lured the “vulnerable” girl away from her home and picked her up in an Uber that took her to the hotel.
Once there, Alshamsi showered the schoolgirl with gifts and then spent two days sexually assaulting her in his room.
His vile crimes were only uncovered when police launched a hunt for the girl and tracked her down to the hotel.
She was found wandering a hallway where she became “upset and angry” at officers – telling them she just wanted to be with her mum.
Alshamsi was arrested in the hotel’s spa and wellness centre where he had been enjoying the facilities.
He has now been jailed for six years after he pleaded guilty to three charges of sexual activity with a child.
Sentencing, Judge Mark van der Zwart, said: “From your home you used social media to groom and lure a 13 year old girl from the safety of her parents and siblings.
“She was just a child, you were anything but. This was appallingly predatory behaviour.”
The girl’s distraught family said Alshamsi had destroyed her innocence and left her with severe psychological damage, which she is still receiving counselling for.
Her mum said: “She was honest with him and told him her age. He knew what he was doing, what he was coming over here for.”
The mother also told how her daughter was so traumatised she was on constant “suicide watch” and was not allowed to go anywhere by herself.
She continued: “I am worried she is going to be a volcano and explode in some way.
“She wants life to be normal but he has taken away our little girl.”
Lewes Crown Court heard the fiend contacted the schoolgirl online last year and the pair exchanged messages on Snapchat.
She told Alshamsi she was only 13 but he lied about his own age – claiming he was 16 – and planned to come and meet her.
On Christmas Eve last year, he landed in the UK and travelled to his £250-a-night seafront hotel three days later.
After the alarm was raised, police spent several hours scouring Brighton seafront before heading to the Hilton Brighton Metropole.
They discovered the girl the following day and took her into protective custody.
Officers also found condoms and vodka in the room, as well as takeaway food and a pink mobile Alshamsi bought the girl.
Will Saunders, prosecuting, said Alshamsi had shown clear “grooming behaviour” and had planned his trip in detail.
He said the “grooming” and “planning” had all been done with the abuse in mind.
Speaking after the case, Detective Inspector Sean Booth from the Safeguarding Investigations Unit said: “This was a distressing case which showed the lengths Alshamsi was prepared to go to engage in sexual activity with a young teenage girl. She was vulnerable, and he exploited her trust.
“I would also like to praise the professionalism of our officers from Brighton Response and our Neighbourhood Policing Team who completed an extended search of the seafront and a meticulous search inside the hotel which ensured the victim was brought safely back to her family, and that Alshamsi was arrested swiftly.
“Thanks to this work, Alshamsi had no choice but to plead guilty to the offences when presented with the evidence from our investigation.”