A Birmingham man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for a horrific sexual assault on a teenager he lured to his home using a popular flatsharing application.
A Deliberate Trap Set Online
Mirza Begg, 34, connected with his 18-year-old victim on the Roomies app, presenting himself as a recently divorced man seeking someone to share his flat. The court heard he later picked up the extremely vulnerable young woman in a borrowed car and took her to his Birmingham address.
Prosecutor Joshua Purser told Birmingham Crown Court that Begg's use of the app was a calculated part of his planning. It created a pretence to bring a female into his home without any witnesses present.
A Terrifying Ordeal with Weapons
Once inside the flat, Begg showed the teenager what was described as a sinister-looking collection of weapons, which included knives, a sword, and bullets. Prosecutor Purser stated this was a deliberate act to instil fear and subdue the victim before the attack.
When the woman resisted his advances, Begg swore at her, told her to deal with it, and then proceeded to sexually assault her. The court was told she fought back repeatedly, but Begg also slapped her and used a knife to threaten her during the prolonged ordeal, which included strangulation.
Rescue and Conviction
The victim was eventually able to message a friend to say she had been assaulted. Police were alerted and rescued her from the flat after she had been held against her will. Begg was arrested at the scene.
Following a trial in September, a jury found Begg guilty of two counts of assault by penetration, intentional strangulation, making threats with a bladed weapon, and assault. He was sentenced on Friday, December 5, 2025.
Judge Simon Drew KC, passing sentence, said the offences were very serious and that Begg had deliberately planned to lure a victim who was young and vulnerable. Begg, who has previous convictions for battery and theft, refused to cooperate with probation staff preparing a pre-sentence report and appeared at his hearing via prison videolink.
He was told he must serve two-thirds of his 12-year sentence in custody before being considered for release on licence. Mirza Begg will also be placed on the sex offenders register for life.
