Afghan Nationals Jailed for Rape of Teenager After Fleeing UK

Three Afghan nationals have been sentenced to prison for the rape of a 17-year-old girl in Bristol. The men, Mehrab Safi, 21, Awal Ahmadzai, and Salman Habibkheli, both 19, were convicted on June 26 of multiple offenses committed against the teenager in St Werburghs last year.

Safi initially met the victim while she was Christmas shopping. He subsequently groomed her over Snapchat, arranging for a taxi to bring her to Bristol where the assaults occurred. Safi was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment at Bristol Crown Court. Habibkheli and Ahmadzai received nine-year sentences in a youth detention center.

During sentencing, Judge Michael Cullum described the trauma inflicted upon the teenager as "unimaginable." The victim, in a statement read to the court, detailed the profound impact of the attacks, stating she is now fearful of leaving her home and is a "different person" compared to a year ago.

A fourth individual, a 17-year-old Afghan national who also faced a rape conviction, did not attempt to flee the UK. He was sentenced to two years and seven months in a youth detention center.

Authorities were alerted to the incident after the girl's mother reported her missing. Detectives discovered the victim at Safi's residence. Detective Sergeant Jo Babbage of Avon and Somerset Police stated that the grooming process began five days prior to the attacks through mobile communication, primarily Snapchat. "It's clear that that's where the grooming and the contact process was started that led up to her being brought into Bristol by taxi which was arranged [by Safi]," Babbage said.

Following the assaults, Safi, Ahmadzai, and Habibkheli fled the scene. They traveled from Bristol to Birmingham and London before attempting to leave the country concealed in the back of a lorry. They were discovered by French police in Calais and subsequently returned to the UK, where they were arrested.

Footage recovered from Safi's phone showed the men laughing and gesticulating while in the back of the lorry, which the prosecution suggested indicated they believed they had evaded capture. "They got into the back of a lorry... and they were able to leave the country without documents and it was just fortuitous that our friends in France located them and were able to return them straight away," Babbage added.

Judge Cullum acknowledged the difficult backgrounds of the defendants, including experiences in Afghanistan, but stated these circumstances did not excuse their actions. All four defendants were placed on the sex offender's register indefinitely and received sexual harm prevention orders prohibiting contact with children. The victim met one of the men while on a Christmas shopping trip in Bristol.