Three Afghan men who fled the UK in the back of a lorry days after raping a 17-year-old girl are facing immediate custodial sentences. Mehrab Safi, 21, and Awal Ahmadzai and Salman Habibkheil, both 19, were discovered by French authorities in Calais after escaping the UK. They were returned to the UK and arrested on suspicion of rape.
Attack Details and Convictions
Bristol Crown Court heard the three Afghans left the UK on December 3 last year, three days after they and a 17-year-old boy raped the 17-year-old girl. The defendants had denied all charges, but the jury found them all guilty after two days of deliberations. Safi was convicted of one count of human trafficking and two charges of rape. Habibkheil was convicted of one count of human trafficking and one charge of rape. Ahmadzai was convicted of one charge of rape and one of assault by penetration. The 17-year-old boy was convicted of one charge of rape.
Grooming and Assault
The attack happened days after the girl met Safi while Christmas shopping in Bristol city centre. Safi groomed the girl on Snapchat, asking for nude photos, before arranging a taxi to bring her to Bristol in the early hours of November 30. At the property, the girl was provided with cigarettes and vodka before being raped by Safi and Habibkheil. After falling asleep, she was raped and sexually assaulted by Ahmadzai, and then raped by the 17-year-old boy. Later that morning, the girl was raped again by Safi.
Prosecutor Edd Hetherington said: "It is a very sad indictment of what digital technology has done to dating life with young people that she regarded that request as entirely normal." The girl told police: "I just wanted to go home, I didn't feel safe." She added: "Well, I didn't say no, so I didn't think it was like bad. But to be fair, I didn't think they were all going to f*** me."
Flight and Arrest
Police traced the girl to a house in St Werburghs, Bristol, and arrested the 17-year-old defendant. The three older co-accused fled as police arrived, travelling to Birmingham and London. Hetherington said: "In a deeply unusual turn of events, the defendants chose to use this mode of transportation to leave the UK rather than enter. Unfortunately for them, they were discovered by the French police in Calais." Mobile phone footage from Safi's phone showed the three in the back of the lorry, with Habibkheil making hand gestures and laughing.
Sentencing and Reactions
Judge Michael Cullum told the defendants: "To each of the defendants who are adults you will receive immediate custodial sentences." Addressing the youth, he said: "Although you are 17 years old, you must expect to receive an immediate custodial sentence." They will be sentenced on October 6. Detective Chief Inspector Matt Cable said: "These four people exploited a vulnerable young girl purely for the purposes of their own sexual gratification. They are dangerous individuals who pose a significant threat to young women and girls." Sally Helliwell of the CPS said: "The young victim was targeted, groomed, and then lured to an unfamiliar city, miles from home in the dead of night. Isolated and alone, she was plied with alcohol and then raped and abused over several hours by four different people."
