A BLACKBURN man linked to the disappearance of a schoolgirl eight years ago has been jailed.

Jordanian takeaway owner Iyad Albattikhi, 34 was found guilty of assaulting another teenager by headbutting her.

He was sentenced to 20 weeks custody and given a two-year restraining order.

Albattikhi had been living in Blackburn and running Funnyboyz – now Mr Beanz – when 13-year-old Charlene Downes went missing in 2003. She has never been found.

Albattikhi was charged with her murder and his landlord and business partner Mohammed Raveshi was charged with assisting an offender.

But after a jury failed to reach a verdict in a first trial in May 2007, the case collapsed ahead of a retrial.

A subsequent IPCC investigation was critical of Lancashire Constabulary’s handling of the case, exposing a ‘series of failings’ in the management and integrity of audio and video material, records, transcriptions and the use of ‘untrained and inexperienced officers’.

Internal disciplinary action against officers involved in the investigation is still ongoing.

The 18-year-old victim in this case was the Blackburn man’s former girlfriend and the court heard she was lured into a lifestyle of drink and drugs.

She tried to leave the premises after a row but Albattikhi assaulted her in the street and tried to tamper with the CCTV.

Albattikhi was bailed for pre-sentence reports. He had denied the assault and was convicted after trial.