Three asylum seekers convicted of Brighton beach rape, men housed in Home Office hotel during offence, asylum refusals still under appeal

Images

The three men had denied the charges against them bbc.com

A trial at Hove Crown Court heard the woman was targeted by the men as she was ‘staggering in the street’ (Alamy/PA) Alamy/PA

Snapchat video of a BBQ and selfie of Karin Al-Danasurt on the evening of October 4 (Sussex Police) Sussex Police

Three asylum seekers were convicted at Hove Crown Court for the rape of a woman on Brighton beach after a night out in October, in a case prosecutors described as a “cynical, predatory and callous” attack. According to the BBC, Abdulla Ahmadi, 26, an Iranian national, and Ibrahim Alshafe, 25, an Egyptian national, were found guilty of repeatedly raping the victim in the early hours of 4 October. A third man, Karin Al-Danasurt, 20, from Egypt, was convicted as a secondary party after jurors heard he filmed the assault and encouraged the others.

The trial heard the woman had become separated from friends and was “highly intoxicated”, at one point on her hands and knees vomiting, when the men approached her along the seafront. The Independent reports that video evidence shown to jurors included Alshafe smiling and posing during the assault, and that the victim told police she feared she would be killed. Prosecutors said she was kicked, had her throat grabbed, and was spat at while the men laughed; the woman later told the court the experience left her afraid to go out.

The men were living in Home Office hotel accommodation for asylum seekers near Horsham at the time, a detail that has become a recurrent feature in British criminal cases involving recent arrivals: the state controls housing, dispersal and supervision, but does not control outcomes. In this case, the court heard, the three knew each other and travelled together to Brighton for the night. The Independent says Ahmadi and Alshafe met on a small boat crossing from France, arriving in the UK in June, while Alshafe and Al-Danasurt were roommates at the hotel.

The convictions also illustrate how the asylum system’s timelines can outlast criminal proceedings. The BBC reports all three men have had their asylum applications refused but are appealing those decisions. That leaves a gap between criminal sentencing and immigration removal, during which the state continues to pay for accommodation and legal process while victims and local communities are left with the more permanent consequences.

In court, the defendants claimed the encounter was consensual. DNA evidence contradicted that account: the Independent reports samples from Ahmadi and Alshafe matched forensic samples taken from the victim, while Al-Danasurt’s DNA result was inconclusive. Sentencing has not yet been reported in the BBC and PA coverage.

The case began with a woman separated from friends on a night out and ended with three men convicted of rape while still housed by the same system assessing whether they should remain in the country.