Asylum seeker arrested trying to meet boy for sex

An asylum seeker has been arrested just days after being granted the right to stay in the UK after trying to meet a teenage boy for sex.

Omid Ebrahmi, 46, was living at Cedar Court Hotel in Wakefield before being arrested for his online predatory behaviour.

The Middle Eastern man, who has been in the UK since 2021, arranged to meet up with the teenager via the dating app Mingle2 in November last year.

However, Ebrahmi was approached by a group of vigilantes who set up the decoy profile to catch suspected paedophiles.

Prosecutor Carmel Pearson told Leeds Crown Court that Ebrahmi’s conversation, which was sent using a translation app from Kurdish Sorani to English, was initially "innocuous".

Ebrahmi told the boy that he did not want to "get him into trouble" after finding out he was supposedly 14.

However, the conversation soon turned sexual as the 46-year-old asked for graphic images and sent several of his own penis.

He also sent a video of himself masturbating and said the pair would have the "best sex".

Ebrahmi agreed to pay for the boy's travel fare as they arranged to meet up in Leeds but backed out after suspecting it was a trap.

The group of vigilantes contacted police after finding out where he had been staying.

The 46-year-old was arrested on December 12.

Ebrahmi initially denied any wrongdoing but later admitted to several offences.

The offences included attempted sexual communication with a child, attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act, arranging the commission of a child-sex offence and attempting to cause or incite a child to engage in sexual activity.

Mitigating lawyer Timothy Jacobs confirmed Ebrahmi was granted a five-year pass to stay on December 8, just four days before his arrest.

Judge Simon Phillips KC sentenced Ebrahmi to 27 months, put the 46-year-old on the sex offender register for a 10-years and gave him a 10-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) to limit his internet use.