Security guard faces jail after forcing child shoplifters into back-room sex abuse

A Primark security guard is set to be jailed for rape and forceful sex with teenage girls return for not reporting their shoplifting.

Zia Uddin, 27, raped one 15-year-old girl and pressured three others into sex acts after he caught them stealing from the clothing chain’s Kingston branch.

Uddin had decline the girls offer to pay for the goods, instead he took them off the shop floor and threatened to call their parents and police, saying he would let them go only if they gave in to his demands.

He told them they would be arrested and left with criminal records unless they performed sex acts, the jury at Kingston crown court heard. In an interview one victim said she did what Uddin asked because she felt it was the only way out.

Police were called after colleagues noticed his strange behaviour, such as not filling out shoplifting reports, asking for CCTV to be deleted and keeping condoms in the store’s control room.

Graham Partridge, of the CPS, said Uddin “preyed on young girls in a vulnerable situation. He abused his authority by telling them to perform sexual acts for him on the promise that they would then be released without their parents or the police being informed about what they had done.

“Having worked in security, Uddin was also well aware of the CCTV camera ‘blind spots’ and took advantage of these in order to carry out his offending.

“The prosecution case was able to rely on strong witness testimony from the victims. Telephone evidence also showed that Uddin made a number of personal phone calls to other girls accused of shoplifting after acquiring their numbers through the incidents.

“During the trial Uddin claimed all the victims were liars and refused to take responsibility for his actions.”

Uddin, of Manor Park, Newham, was convicted of one count of rape and four counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity. He is due to be sentenced next Tuesday.

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