Criminal defence lawyer who tried to pervert course of justice jailed for child sexual assault offences

A criminal defence solicitor who paid 13-year-old girls for explicit photographs and sexually abused them has been jailed for nine years and nine months at Leeds Crown Court today.

Suleman Baig, 40 and of Grimsby, not only abused the young girls, but attempted to pervert the course of justice by trying to pressure them into withdrawing their accusations against him. 

Baig paid the girls hundreds of pounds for explicit images – leaving cash stuffed in toilet rolls in the family home – and progressed to sexually abusing them on around 20 separate occasions, telling one young victim to ‘think about vegetables’ to distract herself as he abused her. 

When police arrested Baig they uncovered over 700 indecent images of children stored in apps. 

Prosecutors and police worked to build a case of evidence against Baig, causing him to plead guilty to 15 charges relating to child sexual abuse, including sexual assault, inciting children to engage in sexual activity, and making indecent images of children. 

Graham Guest, Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS Yorkshire & Humberside, said: 

“Suleman Baig was a practising solicitor who knew exactly how serious his crimes were, yet still continued to systematically groom and abuse two young girls.

“Baig exploited a position of trust, offering money to manipulate the girls into sending him explicit images for his own gratification. His actions were calculated, predatory, and deeply disturbing. 

“When his offences ultimately caught up with him, he made flagrant attempts to pressure his young victims to withdraw their evidence. I have been extremely impressed by the courage of both victims in coming forward and supporting this prosecution even in the face of his attempts to silence them. 

“Their testimony and the strength of the CPS’ case meant he had no option but to admit his guilt – meaning no trial was needed. 

“His conviction and sentence reflect the gravity of his crimes and sends a clear message that no one is above the law, regardless of their profession.”

Background to the case

Baig first encountered his victims through a childhood friend who had a 13-year-old daughter whom Baig was also close with. Over time, Baig began to abuse his relationship with this young girl and her best friend. This began with him offering to pay the girls to send him nude pictures of themselves over Snapchat. If they tried to refuse, Baig would offer them ever-increasing sums of money, up to as much as £100 for a single photo. He would hide the money in the family home for them to find, including under toilet roll in the bathroom.

In total, Baig paid his victims between £500 and £600 in exchange for the images. Following his arrest, Humberside Police uncovered over 700 indecent and prohibited images of children, stored in private apps. This included ‘pseudo images’ of one of his victims – which Baig had created using editing software based on the original photos he had paid her for. 

The abuse intensified when Baig began taking further advantage of his relationship with the girls to make them perform sexual acts for him. The court heard of how he told one of the young victims to think about vegetables to distract herself whilst the abuse was carried out. In total, Baig sexually abused his two victims on around 20 occasions. 

Following an investigation by Humberside Police, Baig was arrested at his home on 20 November 2021. Baig breached his bail conditions both before and after his arrest by trying to persuading victims and witnesses to withdraw their statements and cease cooperating with the investigation.

Baig was arrested a second time on suspicion of witness intimidation on 2 December 2021. 

Despite initially denying contacting any witnesses, he later pleaded guilty to two counts of intending to pervert the course of justice.

Following his conviction, Baig was granted bail on the condition he surrender his passport within 24 hours to the police. The next day Baig presented police with an old passport which had expired nearly two decades previously. Prosecutors successfully opposed his bail following this and Baig was remanded in custody to await sentencing. 

Philip Shrimpton from Humberside Police's Protecting Vulnerable People unit said: “I would like to start by commending the bravery of both young girls for reporting the abuse Baig had subjected them to. 

“I would also like to thank the many witnesses and friends of the victims who came forward and were willing to stand in court to give statements.  

“It has been a lengthy, and complex investigation, but it is thanks to their courage that he is being held accountable for his despicable sexual deviancy. 

“Baig is a manipulative sexual predator who groomed two girls for his own sexual gratification and attempted to pressure them to deny this to the police.  

“Whilst he continued to deny all these allegations up until day two of the trial, making the girls and their families go through all the court proceedings, I am glad he is now behind bars and prevented from causing further harm to others. 

“We always treat cases of this nature with the utmost seriousness and sensitivity and would encourage anyone who has been a victim of recent or non-recent sexual abuse, or anyone who believes someone they know is suffering at the hands of a man like Baig, to please tell someone. 

“You can report crimes of this nature via our non-emergency number 101 or always call 999 in an emergency"