Qasim Azram 27

Description

A warped pervert discussed sexually abusing a 'nine-year-old girl' in lurid detail - unaware he was messaging an undercover cop posing as a paedophile fixer on Grindr. Qasim Azram, 26, from Cheetham Hill, made vile comments about what he wanted to do to the child he later found out didn't exist.

He had no idea he was actually communicating with a Greater Manchester Police officer. Azram was spooked and never made it to a planned rendezvous in a Tesco car park.

When police raided his home, they seized his phone. Among the terms he had searched were 'brothels', 'dogging', 'swingers' clubs' and 'paedophile information exchange'.

As part of an investigation into people with a 'sexual interest in children' - dubbed Operation Stronghold - an officer posing as 'Lee' opened a private message on Grindr from Azram, who was using an account name 'Looking For Fun' on July 10, 2020, prosecutor David Bentley told Manchester Crown Court today (Thursday).

After 'Lee' said 'you read my profile? My kinks is a bit different and not for everyone so I get it', Azram replied that he was 'up for anything'. The officer said he was an 'active dad of 2 here looking for gen pervs who want to explore with us'.

Azram said he was 'looking to explore as well', adding: "I'm into anything, including threesomes." He asked how old the 'children' were. When he was informed they were aged two and nine, Azram asked 'do they go with men or women?', before he requested pictures of 'Lee'.

Their chat then moved into another platform, Wickr, where Azram was said to have asked: "Does your partner know, do they play with men or women?" 'Lee' replied 'yeah they both play' before adding that the older child was a 'timid lil girl'. He said he was aroused watching them play 'with perv c***s'.

The defendant was asked: "Which child you want to play with and what you want to do? Could do with sorting limits out as I don't want to hurt them. It must be fun for everyone."

The pair then arranged to meet at a Tesco in Middleton, with the defendant confirming what car he would be in and that he would be wearing black jeans and a blue denim jacket.

Azram was said to have expressed his fear that he would be caught and told 'Lee': "OK I want to play and tease them and have a bit of fun anything." The Manchester Evening News is not repeating here the sickening comments that followed.

The planned meeting never happened, the court heard. "The defendant never attempted to meet 'Lee' to carry out the sexual assaults... that he had discussed and sought to arrange," Mr Bentley added.

Officers from the sexual crime unit of Greater Manchester Police raided Azram's home on Smedley Road in Cheetham Hill and seized a number of digital storage devices, as well as Azram's Samsung mobile phone. Analysis of the phone showed an internet search history suggesting an interest 'sexually-related topics'.

Among the search terms uncovered were 'adult breastfeeding fetish' and 'paedophile information exchange'. Azram was arrested and offered no comment during a series of police interviews.

When he first appeared in court charged with arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence in February 2022, Azram indicated he would plead guilty but before his sentencing hearing reversed his plea and a trial date was set for January of this year.

His defence argued Azram should have been charged with attempting to arrange of facilitate a child sex offence, but he later had a change of heart and again pleaded guilty to the original charge, only to apply for a second time to change his plea. This was refused and he was sentenced as a man who had admitted the offence before him.

Asking for a suspended prison sentence, Isabella Denn-White, defending, pointed out there was no actual child and 'no harm was caused'. Azram was diagnosed with autism aged 15 which affected his 'thinking and behaviour', said Miss Denn-White. Her client's comments were 'not nice at all', but had been prompted by 'pressure' from the undercover cop, she said.

Her client had only recently 'come out as gay' and his family, some of whom watched proceedings from the public gallery, had 'struggled to deal with it', she said.

Judge Peter Horgan said that 'whilst there's a public interest in punishing people like you' there was also a public interest in making sure they get treatment. A pre-sentence report had said the defendant would not get such treatment in prison.

Judge Horgan said there was 'some prospect of rehabilitation', adding: "I have thought long and hard and it's not without some trepidation I have decided to give you an opportunity and not to send you to custody today."

The judge handed Azram, who had one previous conviction to his name for a dissimilar matter, to 24 months in prison but he suspended the sentence for 24 months. Asram was also ordered to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work; to undergo a treatment program for sex offenders; and 15 days of rehabilitation activity.

He was also made the subject of a ten-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.