An Afghan asylum seeker who abducted a 12-year-old girl and filmed himself as he raped her has been jailed for 15 years.

Ahmad Mulakhil was found guilty of rape, child abduction, taking an indecent video and two counts of sexual assault last month. Mulakhil admitted a second count of rape before his trial began.

The 23-year-old’s attacks in July triggered large-scale anti-asylum protests in Nuneaton, Warwickshire last summer, in which protesters marched along the town’s high street holding St George’s cross and union flags, chanting slogans that urged the far right to unite. A handful of participants wore clothing bearing Nazi imagery.

Passing sentence at Warwick crown court on Friday, Judge Kristina Montgomery KC said the victim continued to suffer trauma responses and medical issues since the attack.

Montgomery said: “Your victim was particularly vulnerable due to her personal circumstances and she has suffered significant and ongoing psychological harm.

“Shortly after 6pm, your victim and you met. There was an exchange between you, and you were captured on CCTV in each other’s company for a second time just after 8pm.

“Footage from a security camera caught an exchange between you in which you asked your victim to tell you her age. She said she was 19, which was an obvious lie. Your reaction was incredulous and the jury’s verdict leaves no doubt that you knew she was aged under 16.”

The judge said the defendant “targeted” the victim after meeting her earlier in the evening, and noted that she was left distressed after the attack.

She said: “[After the attack], you left the area together but when you parted company, she was left alone in a park in the darkness … She was distressed, she was hypervigilant. Looking over her shoulder and into the woodland to see whether you were still in the area.

“She gave an immediate account of your sexual assault upon her. She was thereafter subjected to a medical examination and questioning by the police and latterly as you contested her allegations, cross-examination in the court.

“There is no dispute that your culpability is at the highest level.”

Mulakhil was told he would serve 15 years in prison and an extra 12 months on licence.

Defending Mulakhil, who came to the UK on a small boat four months before the offences last July, Marcus Harry said the defendant arrived in the UK when he was 22 after fleeing Afghanistan.

Harry told the sentencing hearing: “He left Afghanistan at 22 having spent 12 years at school until the age of 18. He was planning on attending university to study economics but for a variety of reasons, he came under the focus of the Taliban, as did his family, and that is the reason he ultimately fled the country.

“His brother did the same, ultimately ending up in another country. He entered this country and when he arrived, claimed political asylum and was awaiting determination of that claim.”

Mulakhil told police he believed the girl was 19 and that she had initiated what was his first sexual encounter.

He faced trial alongside Mohammad Kabir, also an asylum seeker from Afghanistan, who was acquitted of charges of intentional strangulation, attempted child abduction and committing an offence with intent to commit a sexual offence.

The victim, who cannot be identified, told the trial she was approached in a park by both defendants after playing on swings. She said Mulakhil had laughed while attacking her last summer.