A Sudanese refugee who shouted 'f*** England' and expressed a desire to leave the country has been jailed for raping a stranger he met in a park. Mohamed Ibrahim Harun, 32, arrived in the UK 'in the back of a lorry' and later invited the woman back to his flat in Sunderland, where he attacked her in the kitchen.
Harun initially denied any sexual contact when arrested, later claiming the sex was consensual. However, following an eight-day trial at Newcastle Crown Court, he was convicted of rape. On Monday, Judge Carolyn Scott sentenced him to seven-and-a-half years in prison and placed him on the sex offenders register for life.
At the conclusion of the hearing, Harun, who is illiterate and required an interpreter, stated: 'I don't want to stay in England, f*** England, I don't want to stay.'
The court heard that the victim, in her 20s, met Harun, a stranger, in a park in 2024. They, along with others, went to his flat for a drink. Two hours later, she was captured on CCTV fleeing the property. She ran to a nearby shop, called the police, and reported the rape.
Judge Scott remarked: 'She said in the flat you had forced yourself upon her. She describes you having raped her in the kitchen. She said she didn't want to have sex with you and describes you being all over her and that the sex was forceful and hurt.'
In a victim impact statement, the woman said: 'I don't want to but every day I think about what happened to me that day and what he did to me. On the day it happened I remember being in such a good mood and having fun with my friends, I had been drinking and enjoying the sun. I was pleased to meet what I thought would be new friends and was happy to hang out with them. I still can't believe what he then did to me. He just took what he wanted from me. I went from having a great day to the worst day of my life. I didn't want to have sex with anyone that day, I just wanted to have some fun and enjoy the day. I feel like he set it up to get what he wanted and didn't care what I wanted and that I didn't want to have sex. He has stolen my carefree and trusting nature.'
David Callan, defending, stated that Harun, who has no other convictions, does not agree with the jury's verdict but accepts it. He noted that Harun was born in Sudan and had a basic education at an elementary school where they memorised the Quran, but appears illiterate. Callan added: 'His entry into the UK, as the probation officer says, was unorthodox, in the back of a lorry. He immediately received refugee status.'
Detective Inspector Martin Cottle, of Northumbria Police's Rape Investigation Team, praised the victim's bravery. 'She was preyed on in a horrific way because her attacker thought she was vulnerable – but she has shown immense strength to come forward,' he said.
