A Sikh man has been jailed for more than three years after he pretended to be a Muslim so he could have sex with a young Muslim woman from Coventry who he later blackmailed with intimate photos.
Sandeep Brar. 29, threatened to send intimate photos he had taken without permission to the woman’s family after meeting her in hotels.
He then told the victim her problems would go away if she would agree to have sex with other men who would pay him for the sex.
Despite her fears of what her family would say, the woman aged 18 at the time, went to the police and Brar was arrested. He had used a false name and pretended to be a Muslim during their initial online chats.
However, Brar denied blackmail – and on the day of his trial he turned up with copies of messages on his phone allegedly showing it was the victim who was blackmailing him by threatening to cry rape.
The trial was abandoned while the messages were investigated – but it was shown that Brar had actually created the messages himself.
That resulted in him being charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice – which he also denied.
Subscribe to our newsletter and stay updated on the latest news and updates from around the Muslim world!
On the day he was due to stand trial on both charges, Brar, of Southall, Middlesex, changed his pleas to guilty and was jailed for three years and nine months.
Prosecutor Tom Kenning said Brar’s victim, who lives in Coventry, was just 17 when they first had contact with each-other in 2013 through social media, with him using the name “Ehsan” and making out that he was Muslim.
They were in regular contact for about a year before meeting at a hotel in Birmingham in April 2014, where they were “intimate” and he described them as being partners.
They met again a month later, again at a Birmingham hotel, where she noticed him messing with his phone and made it clear she did not want him to take any pictures.
Brar apologised and said he had deleted them – but he lied, and he had at least two pictures of her, one in a state of semi-undress and one while she was asleep.
They continued to correspond, but Brar’s attitude changed, and after they argued about the situation in Palestine he began making offensive comments about the Prophet Muhammad.
In a series of messages, Brar called her a “dirty Muslim” after having an intimate encounter with her: “I’ve got naked pictures of you. I’ve got your mum and brother’s numbers.
“Don’t think your mother or brother’s gonna be happy knowing you lied saying you were at your friend’s when you were in a hotel with a man.”
He then revealed his real name and that he was not Muslim but Sikh, adding: “Nor am I a P*ki. I was fake the whole time. I just lie to Muslim women to f*ck them and f*ck them up.
“How would they feel if your dad seen pictures of you? I’ll tell him a story one by one, I’ll let it sink in picture by picture.”
Brar told her he would delete them if she went to a hotel and slept with some other men, explaining those men would pay him.
Desperate, she asked how much he would get from that and offered to find the money herself instead – and he demanded £1,000 with a first payment of £250 “by Monday” which she agreed.
Instead, she went to the police, but when he was arrested Brar denied blackmailing her.
Mr Kenning added that Brar had a conviction for wounding in 2008, and a caution in 2013 after using a false name to arrange to meet a young woman in Smethwick and then snatching her bag.
Marion Smullen, defending, said Brar is responsible for a number of family members because his parents are in poor health, and he and his wife, who have a young baby, live with his grandmother who is bed-bound.
She pointed out it was four years since the offences, and said that since then Brar has married and turned his life around.
Jailing Brar, Judge Peter Cooke told him: “From the outset you gave her a false name and pretended you were a Muslim.
“At a later stage your attitude changed. You were saying you had naked pictures of her, threatening to reveal them to her family.
“You said the issue could be sorted out if she presented herself at a hotel and effectively prostituted herself with men you had selected, and you then demanded £1,000.
“Your case has aggravating features in that your demand was laced with vile racial abuse.”