A RAPIST was yesterday sentenced to five-and-a-half years in jail after admitting attacking a 14-year-old girl in a Lowestoft alleyway.

Alamgir Kabir raped the 'vulnerable' teenager in August this year after she had asked him for a cigarette.

Detectives said after the sentencing of Kabir at Ipswich Crown Court yesterday that his victim had been left scared of men and was often unable to leave her home after the attack two months ago.

After pleading guilty to rape at an earlier hearing, Kabir, 35, from Bedford, was jailed for five-and-a-half years, less the time he had served on remand, and was told he would be on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

He was banned from working with children indefinitely, as well as being automatically deported to Bangladesh at the end of his sentence

The girl, who was described as vulnerable by police chiefs as she was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the attack on August 5, had gone out to get cigarettes and approached Kabir, who was walking past, to see if he had any.

He said he could get her a cigarette and then walked with her along High Street and into an alleyway off Wildes Score, where she was raped.

The 14-year-old managed to get away and ran back into High Street, the police being alerted just after midnight on Friday, August 6 by a local person who reported a teenage girl, barefoot and crying and saying she had been hurt.

Kabir was arrested later that morning and was charged on the afternoon of Saturday, August 7.

He pleaded guilty to rape during a plea and case management hearing at the crown court on October 8, meaning his victim did not have to give evidence at a trial.

Speaking after the sentencing hearing, the officer in charge of the case, Det Con Kerry Ellis, told The Journal: 'This case demonstrates victims can get justice and that it doesn't always have to mean a trial.

'We recognise that coming forward can be difficult, but we would encourage anyone who has been raped to have the courage to report it. Every allegation is treated seriously and will be fully investigated by specially-trained dedicated rape investigators.

'In this case, Kabir chose to plead guilty as police had substantial evidence against him. The sentence given reflects the serious nature of the offence and the fact that, although he didn't know she was just 14, he still forced himself on her when she believed she was going with him to get a cigarette.

'His young victim is living with it day by day, but the incident has changed her, leaving her scared of men and often not wanting to leave the house.

'We hope the sentence given, and the knowledge that he will be deported afterwards, will offer some small comfort.'