A predator has been jailed after he lured a 12-year-old girl to a 'dirty' flat with pigeons in it and raped her. Nicusor Manole, 27, was handed a 16-year prison sentence for the sickening attack in June last year.
Lancashire Police said Manole met the girl by chance in Burnley after she travelled to the town, which was unfamiliar to her. Initially, Manole was kind to her and bought her a drink of Lucozade, police said.
He then offered her £10 so she could travel to Manchester the next day, but on the condition that she would go back to his flat on Colne Road in Brierfield for a few hours. Manole and his victim travelled to the flat, located above a tyre garage, by taxi and he locked the door once they were inside. Police said the girl described the flat as 'dirty' and said it had 'a number of pigeons' in it.
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Once inside the flat, Manole’s mood changed, Lancashire Police said. He became angry, removed the girl’s clothes and raped her.
Police said the terrifying ordeal ended when the girl managed to persuade Manole to leave the flat with her. When the door was unlocked, she ran out of the flat into the street and flagged down a cyclist on Colne Road.
The cyclist saw she was crying and upset, and the girl revealed she had been sexually assaulted. Lancashire Police identified Manole as the offender and he was arrested four days later on the M6 in Staffordshire.
Manole, of Market Square, Nelson, was convicted by a jury of raping a girl under the age of 13 and sexual assault following a trial. At Preston Crown Court on Tuesday (April 17) he was given a 16-year prison sentence - 15 years imprisonment and a one-year extended licence. Manole was also handed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
Detective Constable Hannah Brown of Lancashire Police said: “This was an horrific offence committed by Nicusor Manole and we welcome the lengthy prison sentence which the judge imposed. Manole took advantage of a young, vulnerable victim and subjected her to a terrible ordeal which left her traumatised.”
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