A Syrian refugee allegedly raped a 19-year-old woman at a beachside toilet after offering her a lift home on his e-bike, a court heard today.
The young woman had been walking home alone along Bournemouth promenade after a night out when she encountered Mohammed Abdullah, 19, and a group of friends. Her phone battery had died, so she asked them to look at a map on one of their phones to determine her route.
She agreed to let Abdullah give her a lift on his bike, but they had only travelled a short distance before he pulled up next to a portable toilet, the jury was told. Prosecutors allege he dragged the woman to the toilet block, pinned her against a wall, and sexually assaulted her before locking her inside the cubicle and raping her.
Abdullah then cycled back to his friends while the young woman ran off in the opposite direction. She stopped a member of the public and used their phone to call her mother, telling her: 'I've been raped'.
Abdullah, who came to the UK in 2023, was arrested eight days later. He is now standing trial at Bournemouth Crown Court, accused of rape and sexual assault by penetration, which he denies.
The incident is said to have happened in the early hours of July 6 last year. The court heard that the complainant had been out drinking with a friend but they went their separate ways at the end of the night.
Mark Eldridge, prosecuting, said: '(The complainant) had some difficulty with her phone which was running out of battery. She ended up deciding to walk along the seafront to Boscombe Pier. She saw a group of five or six men who seemed to be in their early 20s. They were sitting on a bench, one had a bike. She went up to them and asked if they could look at their maps since her phone had died. The defendant said "I take you, I take you".'
Moments before the alleged attack, a couple walking past had seen Abdullah carrying the complainant, jurors were told. The court heard that the woman asked him: 'What are you doing with her? I hope you're not going to do anything with her?' They then lost sight of them and carried on walking.
'(The complainant) remembered being pinned with her back to the outside of one of the portaloos,' the prosecutor said. 'The defendant lifted her leg up and put his hand under her skirt. She was wriggling and trying to fight but then thought if she let it happen it would be quicker.'
Abdullah is said to have then grabbed her arm and dragged her inside the portaloo and locked the door. The young woman estimated the attack lasted between five to eight minutes before Abdullah left and cycled back to his friends, the court heard.
She took her shoes off to allow her to run and went looking for help. She then stopped a passerby and asked to borrow his phone to call her mum. Mr Eldridge said: 'She said "I need to be picked up, something has happened and I have been raped".' She then spoke to another passerby and told him she had been raped. He suggested calling the police and waited with her for them to arrive.
The young woman was taken to hospital. Police described her as 'calm' as she gave an account of what happened, but the court heard she broke down in tears when her mum arrived.
Abdullah, who arrived in Britain under the family reunion scheme and was granted permanent leave to remain, was arrested at his home in West Drayton, Middlesex, on July 14. He told police they had consensual sex.
Abdullah denies rape and sexual assault by penetration. The trial continues.
