Ablolom Okbazge (born 20 May 1995), currently homeless, was sentenced to 9 years of imprisonment and lifetime registration as a sex offender at Bolton Crown Court on 3 November 2022 after being convicted of rape.
In the early hours of Saturday, December 18, 2021, a 37-year-old woman was socialising with friends in Wigan town centre when she became isolated from them and was alone while inebriated. The victim was accosted by Ablolom Okbazge and led into a small lane off King Street, Wigan, to a more isolated location away from the main thoroughfare.
The court was informed that the victim endured a prolonged and harrowing experience, during which she was raped by Ablolom Okbazge.
The defendant was apprehended at the Brittania Hotel in Standish on 19 December 2021 and was thereafter detained in custody until his trial.
Detective Constable Ray Williams of GMP’s Wigan division said;
“This has been a very traumatic ordeal for the victim from the moment she was approached in the street and led into an alleyway by Ablolom Okbazge, right up to the present day. What Ablolom Okbazge did that day is likely to affect the victim for the rest of her life and the trauma will not simply go away just because the court process has concluded.
“I would like to thank the victim for her resilience and bravery in reporting this incident to the police and giving us the opportunity to put a dangerous man in prison. I believe that because of her bravery, this has prevented the same thing happening to somebody else.
“It is my hope that the sentence handed to him today will provide both the victim and members of the community some comfort and reassurance that he will not be able to put another person through the same trauma that the victim experienced in the early hours of that day in December.
“Greater Manchester Police will not tolerate such predatory behaviour within the communities we serve. We want all members of our community, especially women and girls, to feel they are not at risk of harm when simply walking the streets of Greater Manchester and going about their daily lives.
“You may have noticed a high visibility presence during the night-time economy in various towns across the Greater Manchester Police force area. This is part of our renewed drive to make our communities safer, particularly for women and girls during the hours of darkness. We regularly have officers in uniform as well as plain clothed officers patrolling our town’s as well as the city centre who will identify and challenge predatory behaviour and deal with it accordingly.”
If you or anyone you know have been affected by the people highlighted in this article, then please report those individuals to the Police on 101 (999 if an emergency) or visit their online resources for further details of the options for reporting a crime. You can also make a report at Crimestoppers should you wish to be completely anonymous. There is help available on our support links page.