Pictured: Soruth Ali, 42, who served time for raping a schoolgirl has been jailed for beating up his daughter and her boyfriend
A devout Muslim father who served time for raping a schoolgirl has been jailed for savagely beating his 17-year-old daughter and her secret boyfriend.
Businessman Soruth Ali, 42, was woken up at 5am by noises coming from the bedroom of his second eldest’s room and walked in to find her and lover James Martin in bed together.
The restaurant boss, described as controlling and very religious, went into a rage – grabbing a hammer and hitting Mr Martin over the head before chasing out of his family home in Leigh, Greater Manchester.
The married father of four then punched and kicked daughter Fathema as she curled in a ball before dragging her out of her bedroom by the hair.
It is not the first time Ali has been hauled before the courts. He was convicted of raping a 15-year-old schoolgirl in 1995 and served seven years in prison.
The court heard how Fathema’s boyfriend suffered a deep gash to his head which required two staples while her head and face were badly bruised.
The teenager was so terrified of her father she moved to a secret address where she was placed under police protection before being placed in care.
In a statement to police Fathema claimed her father was ‘very religious and very controlling’ and would not let her out of the house unless she wore an Islamic veil.
She said she had been forced to live ‘two lives’ at the family home as she was made to wear a headscarf in front of her father – only for to secretly take it off once she was out of his sight. She said she wanted to ‘live her own life.’
Despite the assault on August 21 this year, Ali was said by probation officers to have shown a ‘lack of remorse and empathy’ for his daughter and Mr Martin and even attempted to ‘justify’ his actions.
At Bolton Crown Court, he admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm and common assault and was jailed for 14 months.
Fathema who had been seeing Mr Martin without the knowledge of her mother and father sneaked him back to her her home while the parents were away.
But Mr Martin was still at the property when Ali and his wife unexpectedly returned home early and as a result he ended up hiding in Fathema’s bedroom for the night.
Peter Gilmore prosecuting said: ‘In the early hours of the morning Mr Ali heard noises coming from his daughters room so went to see what it was.
‘ He saw his daughter having sex with Mr Martin and became enraged and chased Mr Martin from his home, and hit him in the back of the head with a hammer telling him to get out of his house.
Jailed: At Bolton Crown Cour (pictured), Ali admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm and common assault and was jailed for 14 months
‘As Mr Martin fled the property, Mr Ali returned to his daughters bedroom and started punching and hitting her and she fell to the floor and he began dragging her round by her hair. She suffered bruising to her face.’
‘Fathema and Mr Martin both called the police as did a neighbour and Mr Ali was arrested. His daughter was a particularly vulnerable young woman, as she was his 17 year old daughter living in his house. It is clear in his probation report that he was trying to minimise these offences. He has also made attempts to minimise and justify the offences.’
In her statement which was detailed at an earlier hearing Fathema claimed her father hit her on the left arm and knocked her to the floor. She said he then began to kick her to the head and legs and she curled up in a ball and was she was so scared she wet herself.
She said she could hear her mother and sister saying ‘stop’ but Ali grabbed her ponytail and dragged her out of the bedroom as other relatives advised her to pack her belongings and go.
The court heard Ali had a previous rape conviction from 1995 for which he served seven years jail after he attacked a 15-year-old girl when she was in her school uniform.
In mitigation, his lawyer Isobel Thomas said Ali’s restaurant which has five employees and where he works as head chef had to temporarily closed whilst he was kept in custody.
He saw his daughter having sex with Mr Martin and became enraged and chased Mr Martin from his home, and hit him in the back of the head with a hammer telling him to get out of his house
She added: ‘He has admitted his actions and fully accepts the statements of his family as in his words ‘they do not lie’.
‘He is not trying to minimise his actions. It was claimed he lacks remorse for his victims and empathy for his daughter but he tells me that this is not the case, he just finds it difficult to effectively show his emotions.
‘He knows the effect this has had on his daughter and his family as well, and he is sorry for his behaviour. He said he is missing his family and he wishes he could open his heart and show them how much he misses them.
‘His anger was sparked from seeing his daughter have sex with someone, that he had never met. The defendant knows that is no excuse or justification for him behaving in the way that he did.
‘He has been happily married with his wife for 20 years, and they have four children. Three girls aged 19, 17, and 14 and a little boy aged 5.
‘There has been no incidents of violence in the family home apart from this one. He has been in a loving and happy marriage.
‘His behaviour has meant that Fathema no longer resides at the family home, and she has been taken into care as a result of what has happened.
‘He misses his family very deeply.’
Passing sentence Judge Timothy Clayson told Ali: ‘You could have killed Mr Marion and it is through no design of your own that you did not. It is incredibly fortunate that he wasn’t seriously injured.
‘As far as your daughter is concerned, that is a serious offence of its type. She is your daughter and she should have been able to regard her own home as a place of safety. You assaulted her and she was so frightened of you she wet herself.’
‘You have been a hard working man, with a stable marriage and your children living at home. While I accept that you feel some genuine remorse for what you did, what you did was wholly unacceptable. There are no grounds to suspend this sentence, it would be unjust and too lenient.’
Ali was also banned from contacting his daughter for three years under the terms of a restraining order.