Want the best Coventry and Warwickshire news delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up here! Sign up here! Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A disgraced former imam at Rugby Mosque was banished to India after raping a young boy while giving him religious instruction – only to secretly return to this country.

But after keeping silent his victim revealed what had happened to him to a doctor some years later, and Noor Walile was traced to his home in the Midlands.

He told the police that in 2010, when Walile was employed as the imam at the mosque in Grosvenor Road, Rugby, and among his duties was giving religious education to children.

After one young boy, aged under 11 at the time, returned from going to the toilet while being instructed by Walile, he was told to return to the toilet.

He did as he was told, and was then approached from behind by Walile who with one hand holding him by the shoulder, raped him.

Later that evening Walile turned up at the boy’s home with some sweets for his family, which the boy’s father thought was strange.

And his mother noticed that when the boy saw Walile at the door, he ran away, and later at bedtime he told her he did not want to go to the mosque any more.

When he told her why, she ran downstairs and told his father and, not knowing what to do, they contacted an elder at the mosque who came to the house.

The elder sensibly advised them to save the clothes the boy had been wearing and not to wash them, and the following day he and the parents confronted Walile.

Walile initially denied the claim, before acknowledging that “the devil had come over him”.

He was banished to India but secretly returned and when police went to find him they discovered he was living in Leicester.

And when a charge of rape was put to him at Warwick Crown Court, the former imam answered tearfully: “I am guilty. So sorry, I am guilty.”

Walile, aged 38, of Dronfield Street, Leicester, was jailed for six years and ordered to register as a sex offender for life.

But, branded ‘an offender of particular concern’ by the judge, he will only be released before serving the whole of the six years if the Parole Board considers it safe to do so, and will then be on licence for an additional 12 months.

How did the attack come to light?

Earlier this year the boy had a medical examination, and when the doctor asked if he had ever been abused, the boy told him what Walile had done

That was reported by the hospital, and the police traced Walile who initially denied raping the boy and denied confessing it to the mosque elder.

But once he was told the family had kept the clothing, he confessed: “I have told lies during this interview. I am sorry, I did a bad thing. The devil came over me, and I did this bad act.”

What did Walile’s barrister say in his defence?

Anthony Bell, defending, said: “He has worked in a responsible position for many years, without any behaviour such as this in the past.

“When the incident happened he took the advice, albeit fairly firmly expressed, to leave the country and go to India; but he returned to this country to be with his family and his wife, who is a British citizen.

“He has lived quietly in a different city, so that there would be no risk of contact with the boy or his family.

“His shame is apparent. He offers no explanation and no justification for what he’s done. He is ashamed of himself and acutely aware of the shame he has brought on his family.”

What did the judge say?

Jailing Walile, Judge Stephen Eyre QC told him: “The members of your community entrusted their young children to you for guidance and education.

“You were in a position of responsibility and leadership at the mosque. You abused that position and that trust, and defiled the faith you were paid to uphold.

“He was a young boy entrusted to your care for guidance, and you raped him. It is hard to think of any greater abuse of the trust that had been placed in you.

“If you had not pleaded guilty, the sentence would have been one of nine years.”

The judge pointed out that, in addition to a sexual harm prevention order restricting Walile’s contact with any child under 16, he will be barred from working with children for life.

If you’ve been affected by this story call Coventry Rape and Sexual Assault Centre (Crasac) on 024 7627 7777.