Man jailed after raping woman in St Helens

Nadal Mehemed, 36, of South John Street, in St Helens, was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court today (Thursday, April 10), after pleading guilty to rape and robbery.

On Saturday, June 2024, Mehemed assaulted and raped a woman inside a property and forcibly took her mobile phone in an attempt to prevent her from contacting emergency services.

The woman’s call still went through to police call handlers and part of the incident was recorded and used in evidence against Mehemed.

As well as a prison sentence, Mehemed has also been given a life time restraining order against his victim and placed on the Sex Offender Register indefinitely.

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Detective Constable Chris Kingston, who was the officer in charge of the case, said: “This was a truly shocking incident in which a woman was subjected to a sustained period of violence and intimidation.

“Thanks to her bravery in reporting what happened, we were able to provide enough evidence to prove the despicable actions of Mehemed and he has now been given a lengthy prison term."

Constable Lou Linten, who also worked on the case, added: “Anyone that has been a victim of a sexual offence, is concerned for the safety of someone they know or suspects someone to be engaging in this criminal activity, should come forward and speak to us.

“We have a team of dedicated staff who will expertly and compassionately deal with your reports and we will do everything we can to bring offenders to justice.”

• Support and guidance:

• To report a sexual offence you can call 101 where you will be spoken to by specially trained officers or you can pass information to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. In an emergency, always call 999.
• If you have been a victim of sexual assault or rape, you can access specialist support services, which are free of charge and available to anyone. You do not need a referral or to have reported an incident to Merseyside Police before you access these specialist support services.
• These services can support you in a variety of ways, including offering a confidential discussion if you are thinking of making a police report, but are unsure what that involves and would like to discuss it.
• If you do decide to report to Merseyside Police, you will receive support throughout the investigation, court process and beyond.
• You can choose to make an anonymous report through the Sexual Assault Referral Centre called Safe Place, or the Independent Sexual Violence Advisor service, rather than coming directly to Merseyside Police.
• With no police involvement, a specialist doctor at Safe Place can examine you to check that you are ok and look for DNA evidence, which they will store to support your case. This gives you the option of making a formal police report at a later time, if you choose to.
• Support is also available in Liverpool, Sefton and Wirral, from Rape and Sexual Abuse Support (RASA) Merseyside who are available on 0151 558 1801 and, in St Helens and Knowsley, by the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre (RASASC) Cheshire and Merseyside who can be contacted on 01925 221 546 or 0330 363 0063.
• If you do not require immediate police assistance, then you can report rape and sexual assault via the police website here.
• Support is also available through the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Victim Care Merseyside service here.
• We recently launched our Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) campaign to put the voices of women and girls at the heart of our work to tackle VAWG. You can find out more about the campaign here