Police have confirmed that an asylum seeker who was staying in Bishop’s Stortford has been charged with raping a woman in the town centre.
Iranian man Ahmadreza Khalafi, aged 28, of no fixed address, is also accused of five counts of sexual assault on a female and one count of assault by penetration.
A spokesperson for Hertfordshire Constabulary told the Indie on Monday (July 28) after we approached the force last week: “The charges relate to an incident in Bishop’s Stortford involving one female victim aged over 18.”
The spokesperson added that the offences occurred in the town centre. The Indie understands they happened in Devoils Lane, down the side of the Black Lion.
Khalafi was arrested on May 2. He was charged later that month and appeared at St Albans Crown Court on June 6, when he was remanded into custody for six months ahead of a trial in December.
The Indie understands that Khalafi was lodging in Stortford at the time of the incident, having been placed with the help of one of the town’s churches after being granted the right to stay in the UK.