A 40-YEAR-OLD man cruised around Bury town centre in his car before targeting a drunk teenage girl and sexually assaulting her.

Ali Rauf was prowling the streets at 3am on August 26 2018 when he saw two women, both 17, looking distressed on Walmsley Street.

He invited them to get into his car, gave them alcohol and played loud music for them before luring them to his home and sexually assaulting one of them in his bathroom.

Rauf, of Heywood Street, Bury, was jailed for four years and three weeks at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court.

Robert Smith, prosecuting, described how after taking them to Burrs Country Park, Rauf then drove back to his house and gave the girls more alcohol and cigarettes.

One of the women then went upstairs to use the bathroom before Rauf entered the room where she was sat with her jeans and knickers round her ankles.

He exposed himself and proceeded to force her head towards him and when she pushed him away he then pushed himself against her.

The following day the woman reported the incident to the police.

Mr Smith read out a victim impact statement which said that the incident affected the victim’s relationships with men and that she now has trouble sleeping and no longer feels safe.

Mr Recorder Thomas QC said that at trial the jury had found Rauf guilty of sexual assault but acquitted him of rape.

Rauf also pleaded guilty to a further charge of absconding at his trial.

Defending, Nigel Edwards, said that Rauf, a father-of-two, absconded following his trial because he panicked.

Recorder Thomas QC said: “You were 37 at the time and these women were 17.

“You were looking to exploit the situation for your own sexual gratification.

“They were in a vulnerable situation. The fact that they had got into your car, accepted cigarettes and drink and went to your house did not mean that they were looking for sex.”

He sentenced Rauf to four years imprisonment and a lifetime on the sex offender’s register. He was also sentenced to three weeks for absconding.