A rapist has been jailed after he convinced vulnerable 15-year-old girl not to run away from him because he only had one leg.

Mohammed Farah, 38, was sentenced to nine years behind bars at Southwark Crown Court on Friday (May 26) after he was found guilty of carrying out the attack at a trial in April.

The assault took place in Stratford on October 2 last year when Farah, of Hurstbourne Gardens, Barking, began talking to a girl from Waltham Forest because they had a mutual friend.

They both went to Torrens Square, where they initially talked and drank beer that Farah had brought with him.

The attacker then started to touch the victim, but she told him to stop. Farah reassured her he wouldn't do anything more to her and that she should not run away from him as he only had one leg.

After regaining her trust and convincing her to stay with him, he then went on to rape the girl and threatened to kill her if she told anyone.

However, on October 17, police were called to the girl’s address in Waltham Forest, where she told officers she had been raped by a man she knew as “Mo Farah”.

With the description they were given, detectives identified and located Farah and he was arrested at his home the following day.

When questioned, Farah denied that he had carried out the attack, and denied ever having met the girl.

However, officers managed to track down CCTV footage that showed the rapist together with his victim as the pair walked towards Torrens Square.

DC Sarah Towe, of the Met's Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command (SOECA), said: "Farah is a dangerous individual who preyed on an extremely vulnerable girl and used his disability to gain her trust.

“Believing she was safe in his company, the girl went with Farah to a secluded area where he then raped her.

“Farah denied all involvement in this case until CCTV was produced which disproved his original defence.

“Even faced with this evidence, he continued maintain his innocence, but a jury was able to come to a unanimous verdict.”