Three men have been jailed for a "cynical, predatory and callous" rape on Brighton beach. Asylum seekers Abdulla Ahmadi, Ibrahim Alshafe, and Karin Al-Danasurt attacked a woman in the early hours of October 4.
Asylum seeker Abdulla Ahmadi, 26, from Iran, and Ibrahim Alshafe, 26, from Egypt, were each sentenced to 21 years in prison. Al-Danasurt, 21, also from Egypt, was convicted of rape as a secondary party for filming the assault and received a sentence of 18 years and six months.
Sentencing the men at Hove Crown Court, Her Honour Judge Christine Henson KC stated that each of them "participated in an entirely predatory and callous attack." She added that the "impact on your victim was and continues to be devastating. It has had a life changing profound and irrevocable impact on her."
Each of the men, who were residing in a Home Office hotel in Horsham at the time of the offense, will also serve a further six years on extended license. They will be eligible for parole after serving two-thirds of their sentences.
The court heard that the three men were "on the lookout for women that night for sexual purposes" and had visited bars and nightclubs along Brighton seafront. They encountered the victim, whose identity is protected for legal reasons, at a fast-food restaurant. According to the prosecution, the woman was "staggering in the street" and was "incapacitated." Alshafe and Ahmadi then took her behind a beach hut where they raped her, while Al-Danasurt filmed the assault. The trial included testimony that the woman recalled being spat on, kicked, and having her throat grabbed during the attack. She told the court that she still hears their laughter when she closes her eyes and feels that "no matter how hard I scrub it I still feel dirty."