Former Stoke-on-Trent councillor jailed for raping girl

Randy Conteh served as a city councillor in Stoke for 19 years

A former councillor who raped a girl under the age of 16 has been jailed for nine years.

Randy Conteh, 63, resigned as an independent councillor at Stoke-on-Trent City Council in May 2021 after 19 years at the local authority.

Derby Crown Court heard he "derailed" the victim's life with the attack, which took place between 1995 and 1997.

Conteh, of Weston Coyney, was also put on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

Passing sentence, Judge Nirmal Shandt told Conteh that the victim "faced devastating consequences as a result of what you did to her".

She told him his actions had meant his victim "lost her ambition…and she tried to take her own life".

'Dirty and used'

Prosecuting barrister Jonathan Dickinson revealed Conteh, who was found guilty in June, had previous convictions from 1978 for a public order offence and actual bodily harm.

He told the court the victim had been happy before the attack and after she felt "dirty and used".

Conteh's counsel, Cheryl Mottram, said he accepted the guilty verdict but told the court as a councillor he had "made a positive contribution to society in the last 20 years of his life".

She said his wife of seven years would be particularly affected by his sentence.

Staffordshire Police arrested Conteh in 2020 and senior investigating officer Det Insp Adrian Webb said the victim had "shown great strength and determination throughout the investigation and trial".

Stoke-on-Trent City Council said Conteh's offending pre-dated his time as a councillor "but the passage of time does not make this any easier for his victim and we applaud her bravery in speaking out".

It said the fact that Conteh became "a well-known public figure" made the crime "even more shocking".