Three Afghan men guilty of grooming and raping girl

Three Afghan nationals have been found guilty of grooming and raping a 17-year-old girl before fleeing the UK in the back of a lorry.

Mehrab Safi, 21, Awal Ahmadzai and Salman Habibkheli, both 19, were convicted of committing multiple offences against the girl at a house in the St Werburghs area of Bristol in the early hours of 30 November. Days after, they were arrested by French police in Calais.

A 17-year-old boy - who cannot be named for legal reasons - was also convicted of rape.

Det Ch Insp Matt Cable, from Avon and Somerset Police, said: "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.

Warning: This story contains distressing details.

"These four people exploited a vulnerable young girl purely for the purposes of their own sexual gratification.”

Safi, of St Werburghs, was found guilty of one count of human trafficking and two counts of rape.

Habibkheil, of Lockleaze, was found guilty of one count of human trafficking and one count of rape.

Ahmadzai, of Redcliffe, was found guilty of one count of rape and one count of assault by penetration.

The jury at Bristol Crown Court convicted the defendants after two days of deliberations.

During the trial, the jury heard the girl had been Christmas shopping at Cabot Circus in the centre of Bristol with a friend when they met Safi for the first time and exchanged numbers, five days before the offences were committed.

Ed Hetherington, prosecuting, said Safi had groomed the girl on Snapchat and asked her to send nude photos.

Safi then arranged for a taxi to take her from her home in Somerset to his house in St Werburghs in the early hours of 30 November.

"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," Hetherington said.

He added that the girl was "perfectly willing" to do what Safi asked, despite barely knowing him.

Hetherington said the girl was "quickly expected" to have sex with Safi, who had asked her to remove her clothing six to seven times, but insisted they would not have sex.

However, she was plied with alcohol and cigarettes and then 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.

Police attended the property after the girl's mother reported her missing. They found her there, where she reported the attacks and said she wanted to leave.

She told them: "I just wanted to go home, I didn't feel safe, I just wanted to go home.

"I thought it was just going to be one [Safi] which was the one that I was speaking to.

"I didn't think they were going to do anything but they did anyway."

The 17-year-old boy was arrested at the house, but the three men fled from officers and travelled to Birmingham and London before they left the country.

Hetherington said it had been "deeply unusual" for the men to leave the UK in the back of a lorry, rather than enter.

They were discovered by French police in Calais and returned to the UK, where they were immediately arrested on suspicion of rape.

Mobile phone footage from Safi's phone showed the men laughing and gesticulating in the back of the lorry, which Hetherington said suggested they thought they had "got away with it".

Safi maintained the first incident with the girl was consensual and claimed the second rape did not happen.

Habibkheil said the girl had invited him upstairs to have sex, while Ahmadzai denied committing the third rape.

The youth also said the sexual intercourse was consensual and initiated by the girl.

Det Sgt Jo Babbage, from Avon and Somerset Police, said it was "impossible to overstate" the girl's courage following the attacks.

"The horrendous offences committed against her were calculated and a complete breach of trust,” she said.

"Her bravery in recounting that abuse is truly admirable and that extraordinary strength has ensured these four people will now face justice.”

Sally Helliwell from 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."

Judge Michael Cullum said the adult defendants would receive immediate custodial sentences, but he had to consider "a lot of things" before deciding on the length of their prison terms.

He told the boy to expect the same punishment.

Safi, Habibkheil and Ahmadzai were remanded into custody while the boy was released on conditional bail with an overnight curfew at an address outside of the region.

They will be sentenced on 6 October.

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