Three Afghan nationals travelled to Birmingham after raping a teenage girl in Bristol before fleeing the UK in the back of a lorry. 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 immediately arrested on suspicion of rape.
Convictions and Sentences
Bristol Crown Court heard the men 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 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.
Escape and Arrest
Police traced the girl to a house in the St Werburghs area of Bristol and arrested the 17-year-old defendant when he answered the door. Edd Hetherington, prosecuting, said the three older men fled the house as police arrived and travelled to Birmingham and London. “You might have heard reports from time to time about people concealing themselves in the back of a lorry and crossing the Channel,” he said. “In a deeply unusual turn of events, the defendants Safi, Habibkheil and Ahmadzai, 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 recovered from Safi’s phone showed the three defendants in the back of the lorry, with Habibkheil making hand gestures to the camera and laughing, and Ahmadzai lying down.
The Attack
The attack happened days after the girl met Safi while Christmas shopping with a friend in Bristol city centre. Safi groomed the girl on Snapchat, including asking for nude photos, before arranging a taxi to bring her to Bristol in the early hours of November 30. “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,” Mr Hetherington said. “She was perfectly willing to do so, despite him being someone she barely knew and she said that was unexceptional.” 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. She told police following the four attacks, “I just wanted to go home, I didn’t feel safe, I just wanted to go home.” She later 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. I thought it was just going to be one which was the one that I was speaking to. I didn’t think they were going to do anything but they did anyway.”
Denials and Bail
The four defendants denied all charges. Safi maintained the first incident was consensual and the second rape did not happen. Habibkheil said the girl invited him upstairs to have sex, while Ahmadzai maintained he was not the third person who raped her. The youth also said the sexual intercourse was consensual and the girl initiated it. Safi, of St Werburghs, Bristol; Habibkheil, of Lockleaze, Bristol; and Ahmadzai, of Redcliffe, Bristol, were remanded into custody. The 17-year-old boy was released on conditional bail, including an overnight curfew, at an address outside the region. Judge Michael Cullum told them: “To each of the defendants who are adults you will receive immediate custodial sentences. However, there are a lot of things I have to consider when deciding the length of that sentence.” Addressing the youth, the judge said: “Although you are 17, you must expect to receive an immediate custodial sentence. Your lawyers will ask me not to send you to custody and I will consider those arguments. You must understand that while you maintain your bail it is not an indication of you not receiving a custodial sentence.” They will all be sentenced on October 6.
Police and CPS Statements
Det Chief Insp Matt Cable, of Avon and Somerset Police, speaking after the case, 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 and gave not a single thought to the welfare of the victim.” Sally Helliwell, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “The young victim in this case 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. It was clear throughout that she did not consent. Thankfully, the three men who fled in such a cowardly manner were swiftly returned to the UK to face justice.”
