A predatory sex offender who groomed a child from Kent and then raped her in his flat has been jailed. Ako Hawla fled the country but was tracked down in France and returned under a European Arrest Warrant.

Police were initially alerted to concerns for the victim’s welfare after she was reported missing. Hawla had previously groomed the child through various social media platforms and apps and had persuaded her to meet him.

He was 19 at the time but when the victim told him she was only 13 he claimed he was also a juvenile, Kent Police said. They travelled to his address in Frobisher Road, Erith, where the victim was repeatedly abused.

Officers searching for the missing child tracked her to the flat and when Hawla realised police were at his home he instructed the victim to pretend she

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