Salim Ahmed, a 56-year-old security guard employed at a care home in Winchester, Hampshire, exploited his role by targeting a highly vulnerable resident with learning difficulties. The victim, deemed by doctors to lack capacity, was befriended by Ahmed in March 2025, during which he entered her room on multiple occasions while disabling his body-worn camera, breaching protocol.
Ahmed exchanged mobile phone numbers with the resident and proceeded to send her explicit messages over WhatsApp, inciting her to share indecent photographs of her breasts and vagina. He also transmitted indecent images to her and expressed desires for her to perform oral sex on him, while arranging to meet her outside the care home for sexual intercourse. The abuse was uncovered when a friend of the victim alerted the care home manager, who examined the resident's phone and discovered the compromising images and conversations.
At Winchester Crown Court on Friday, February 6, 2026, Ahmed, appearing in a lilac shirt and tie, was sentenced following his guilty plea to two counts of inciting sexual activity with a mentally disordered female, entered at Basingstoke Magistrates' Court on September 9, 2025. The judge, Mr Recorder Richard Tutt, highlighted the gross abuse of trust, stating: "Your role was to keep her and other residents safe. You were fully aware of your responsibilities. Outside of an emergency, you were not expected to enter residents' rooms." He further noted Ahmed's employment as an international custody officer for the Home Office, underscoring the severity of the betrayal.
A victim impact statement was read in court, detailing the profound effects of the abuse: "It made me feel very scared, and even today, I still have anxiety attacks about what happened. It hurts in my head, and my chest and I have headaches. I struggle to trust people who should be nice to me, especially men." The statement revealed the resident's subsequent struggles with suicidal thoughts, insomnia, loss of appetite, and the necessity to relocate from the care home. Defence barrister Jessica Peck described Ahmed as a "family man" of good character, married for 33 years, who had recently undertaken the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca seeking repentance. She argued his role as an agency security guard did not entail the same level of trust as carers or social workers, a contention firmly rejected by the judge: "A security guard at a vulnerable person’s home is not?"
The sentencing reflected the court's condemnation of Ahmed's actions, with concurrent terms imposed: 17 months for the first count and three years and four months for the second. Ahmed will serve up to half of the sentence in custody. The case was investigated by Hampshire Constabulary, as indicated by the custody image provided.