An east London Muslim, who was well known for giving religious talks, has been jailed for 10 years for rape.Posted on 20 March 2008 @ 02:42 GMTAbdul Makim Khalisadar pleaded guilty to raping a 27-year-old woman after forcing his way into her home in 2005.
Scotland Yard was originally examining Khalisadar's links to terrorist Kazi Nurur Rahman but the investigation did not lead to a terror arrest.
But DNA taken when the 26 year old was arrested for downloading child abuse images linked him to the rape.
After denying it for almost a year and a half, Khalisadar admitted raping the woman in Whitechapel, east London, in the early hours of 16 October 2005.
On Monday he was jailed for seven and a half years for the rape and two and a half years for perverting the course of justice, to run consecutively.
Khalisadar is unemployed but used to work as an assistant in a primary school teaching English and Maths.
He also worked with an anti-drug-and-violence project in east London's Brick Lane, and was well known for his religious talks.
Seven of Khalisadar's friends who last month admitted conspiracy to pervert the course of justice were each jailed for 12 months.
Belal Ahmed, 24, Tanbir Ahmed, 24, Mohammed Tahar Hussain, 25, Iqbal Hussain-Ali, 25, Tony Autier, 30, Thouhid Ahmed, 24, and Shaherul Islam Khan, 24 - all from East London - admit lying to the police in formal statements.
They claimed Khalisadar was giving a talk at the East London Mosque at the time of the rape...
...Scotland Yard's counter-terrorism command was investigating Khalisadar's connection with Rahman, who was convicted in 2006 of trying to buy Uzi sub-machine guns for use by terrorists.
When Khalisadar was taken to a police station and swabbed for DNA, detectives discovered to their surprise that he was the man being sought for the rape.
At first he insisted the sex was consensual, then he concocted an alibi saying he had been giving a talk on repentance at the mosque that night.
It was the middle of Ramadan, and young men would often meet at the mosque through the night before eating their breakfast ahead of sunrise. His friends supported the alibi, but now admit they lied.
The DNA evidence was overwhelming and there was also technical evidence that his phone was used near the victim's flat at the time of the rape.
Eleven charges of possessing photographs of child abuse are not being proceeded with at present.