Saydur Rahman Shamim

An imam who sexually abused an eight-year-old girl while working at a Southampton mosque has been jailed for eight years and three months.

Saydur Rahman Shamim, 36, abused his position of trust to commit a series of sexual offences against the child between May 2016 and May 2017.

A jury found Shamim guilty of two counts of sexual assault on a girl under 13 and one count of sexual assault by penetration of a child under 13.

The court heard that his abuse left the girl vulnerable, anxious and withdrawn, with the traumatic effects continuing long afterwards.

In a statement read to the court, her father described how she struggled even to hug him following the abuse and feared some of the emotional scars would remain for life.

Shamim, of Waterloo Street, Weston-super-Mare, was sentenced at Southampton Crown Court and placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.