An Islamic teacher who molested a young girl was spared jail today after claiming his six children were dependent on him because his wife spoke “very little English”.

Suleman Maknojioa, 40, rubbed the 11-year-old’s leg and reached under her prayer headscarf to squeeze her chest while giving her and her two brothers private tuition in religion at their home.

The girl was left fearing the lessons, held over a period of nine months, and said of the touching: “I did not want it, but I was too afraid to say something.”

Maknojioa was arrested after the children’s mum overheard her sons, aged 13 and seven, talking.

He was convicted of five counts of sexual activity with a child but today got a suspended sentence after a court heard he was on
benefits as he could not teach any more.

Frida Hussain, mitigating, said of Indian-born Maknojioa: “He is married with six children, that unit depends on him. His wife doesn’t work and speaks very little English, they are dependent on him to lead their lives and the running of the household.”

Maknojioa was hired in 2012 to teach the children up to three times a week. But the girl said he “favoured” her and touched her as she prayed or read the Koran.

She told the jury: “He would put his hand on my chest and squeeze. My brothers asked me what he had been doing – I didn’t know how to describe it. I told them he had touched me up.

"They told me to tell Mum and Dad, but I didn’t want to. It went on for ages, his hand going up and down.”

Her older brother said: “My sister would get upset at the idea of anyone knowing. It was difficult to know what to do.”

The day Maknojioa was arrested he had been due to teach 30 children at a mosque near his home in Blackburn, Lancs.

Sentencing him to 40 weeks’ jail suspended for two years at Preston crown court, Judge Michael Byrne said: “The parents invited you into their home. They trusted you and left you alone with their children.

“I have read a letter from the girl in which she sets out her confusion at conduct of this sort from one who was in a position of authority. You breached that trust repeatedly.

“I accept you are a very good father, your wife speaks little English and administration falls on you. Social services conducted their own assessment and found that you do not pose a risk.”

Maknojioa, who had denied the charges, will be supervised for two years and made the subject of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order for 10 years. He is banned from working with children for seven years.