Jailed: Convicted sex offender Imran Khan has admitted prowling the streets of Burnley and kidnapping a six-year-old girl and was jailed for life today

A child rapist was jailed for life today after he grabbed a six-year-old off her bike and threw her in his boot just days after finishing a sexual offenders' rehabilitation course.

Imran Khan, 34, was released on licence for abusing a 12-year-old girl when he found the new victim after 'doing laps' of the streets of Burnley 'hoping for the opportunity to arise', a court heard.

After seeing the youngster riding around on her bike, he bundled her into the boot of his car where he kept her for more than half an hour.

He then exposed himself to her and dumped the terrified child in a dustbin.

CCTV footage showed him prowling the area for around 30 minutes until he snatched the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, in broad daylight.

The court heard how at the time of the abduction Khan had only just completed a sexual offenders course to 'provide the defendant with the mechanisms of dealing with any sort of urges or intentions he may have had'.

Khan was today jailed for life at Burnley Crown Court and judge Simon Newell told him: 'It was planned and predatory and was for the satisfaction of your own perverted sexual desires.

'You have now in the last seven years on two occasions taken a girl from the streets of East Lancashire for your own sexual desire.

'One was 12 and one was six. One was raped and one was released. Both were traumatised.

'These sorts of crimes cause concern for those involved in this case but for the wider community.

'It's a parent's hope that their child should be free to play in the streets, walk to school or play in the park. They want to know their children are safe and secure.

'Your crimes fracture that trust and disrupt families' lives. These crimes are a parent's worst nightmare.

'My job first and foremost is to protect the general public. I am to consider whether the situation justifies life in prison and I have come to the conclusion that it is.'

Prosecutor Peter Barr described to the court how Khan prowled around the streets of Burnley, Lancs., several times on March 26 this year before the incident in which the girl later described to police as when 'I got stolen'.

Evidence: Khan (circled in red) in his Vauxhall Astra spots the six-year-old girl on her bike (circled in yellow) and then trails her before dragging her away

On the prowl: Khan bundled the six-year-old girl into the boot of his black Vauxhall Astra (pictured)

He said: 'After school she was riding her bike near her home in Burnley when a black Vauxhall car drove near to her and stopped.

'The man who was the driver said to her that she should look under the car as a ball was stuck there and asked for her help to retrieve it.

'The man then picked her up and in her words 'proper squeezed her in the belly', and dropped her into the car boot.

'She was kicking out at the man and she banged her head as she was being dropped into the boot.

'The boot was shut and the car drove off.

'The man said he would take her home but he didn't. She recalls being taken to an area of some bushes.'

CHILD RAPIST HAD ABDUCTED AND ABUSED CHILD AT KNIFEPOINT Imran Khan faces life in prison but it came after he was handed a nine-year sentence in 2009 for abducting two young girls off the street, before raping a 12-year-old in the back of his car. Prosecutor Peter Barr told how on that occasion, he and a friend had been driving around and picked up three young females. 'They plied them with drugs and alcohol before dropping one off,' said the prosecutor. 'One then got out of the car with one of the girls to make a phone call and Khan locked the doors and drove off. 'He had his hands around the other girl's throat and told her to be quiet or he would kill her as he had a knife. 'He drove to a secluded area where he made her perform a sexual act upon him before he raped her. She ran away screaming.' Advertisement

Mr Barr told the court how the girl recalled 'being dropped into a wheelie bin upside down and said if she didn't stop crying he would whack her around the head with his belt'.

He said the defendant had stopped the car and pulled down the backseat of the Vauxhall down so he could see the girl, before taking down his trousers.

The court heard how after being dumped in the wheelie bin head first, the youngster managed to escape by 'making it topple over'.

She was found by two children and the police were called.

Mr Barr told the court that on the day she was abducted, the girl had been out playing with her brother, and it was only when their mother called them in for dinner that they released she had gone.

'He recalls being out in the street and recalls seeing the black Vauxhall and then realised his sister had disappeared and her bike was left behind', he said.

Intensive forensic analysis revealed fibres from the girl's hooded top, leggings and cardigan in the back seat of Khan's car as well as glitter from the bows of her sandals in the boot of the Vauxhall.

Mr Barr described how victim impact statements had been taken from the victim's mother and a sexual offences adviser and the girl had drawn a picture which showed a 'nightmare' she had been having.

Khan, of Burnley Lancs., was arrested two days after the girl's abduction and in police interview, he accepted owning the car but claimed he was driving around looking for houses to rent.

He told officers he hadn't spoken to any children as there were 'none on the streets' on that day.

The court heard how Khan initially denied kidnap, committing an offence with the intent to commit a sexual offence and breaching a sexual offences court order, but changed his plea to guilty on the day he was due to stand trial earlier this month.

Hunt: Police walked the streets of Burnley before the six-year-old girl was found dumped in a bin

A separate charge of causing a child to incite in sexual activity was ordered to lie on file.

But in Mr Khan's defence, Jeremy Lasker said: 'In fact this little girl was not actually sexually violated.

'For whatever reason the defendant desisted from that. It's probably of no comfort for the child's mother but the length of this involvement was for about 30 minutes or so.

'It's a parent's nightmare and the child was inevitably terrified but in cases of this type, the courts' experience will be of many worse examples, horrific though this case is.'

Judge Simon Newell sentenced Khan to serve two life sentences to run concurrently, plus a separate concurrent term of three years for breaching a court order.

He told him he must serve a minimum of six years and seven months behind bars before he is considered for parole but warned him: 'It seems to be that given your age and your propensity to commit these offences, it may be many years before a parole board are willing to consider your case.

The judge added: 'While on licence for your previous offending, you completed a sexual offences treatment programme.

'You had apparently displayed good understanding, and had considerable levels of support.

'That course ran from April 2014 and March 2015 and finished just days before you committed these offences against this girl.

'Because of that there is a significant risk of you causing serious harm and you are the meaning of a dangerous offender.'