A vile predator who threatened to rape a teenage girl and urged her to self-harm has been jailed in a groundbreaking Staffordshire case under the new Online Safety Act.
Shabaz Khokar, 24, from Greenwich, was sentenced to two years and five months in prison after admitting to encouraging serious self-harm and sending threatening messages to the terrified victim.
Khokar targeted the Staffordshire teenager with vile online abuse, including threats of rape. He further taunted her by sending screenshots of a train ticket for his trip directly to her home.
Staffordshire Police were waiting at Stafford station to arrest Khokar upon his arrival. During questioning, he remained silent and was initially granted bail with strict conditions to stay out of Staffordshire and away from the victim.
Despite these bail conditions, Khokar continued to send abusive messages, pressuring the girl to self-harm and to drop the charges, causing her ongoing fear and distress.
This prosecution is the first in Staffordshire under section 184 of the Online Safety Act 2023, which strengthened online crime laws from 31 January 2024.
Originally published by UKNIP.
