Teenage asylum seekers jailed after ‘horrific’ rape of 15-year-old girl

– Long Read – Distressing –

Two child asylum seekers who abducted and raped a 15-year-old girl have been detained for ten and nine years respectively.

Jan Jahanzeb and Israr Niazal, both aged 17, face possible deportation and were ordered to register as sex offenders.

Warwick Crown Court was told the pair led the highly-distressed girl into a “den-type” area in in Leamington Spa, after being led away from her friends, where they pushed her to the ground and attacked her.

Sentencing the youths on Monday, Judge Sylvia de Bertodano said the victim had made “vigorous protests” while being deliberately taken to a secluded area.

The judge told Jahanzeb, who has already been served with deportation notification papers, and Niazal: “What you two did on that evening changed her life forever.

“No child should have to suffer the ordeal that she suffered. It’s clear from the footage we have seen that no one can seriously entertain the thought that you believed she was consenting.

“This is a case where it was absolutely clear to both of you that you were taking a child away from her friends in the face of her vigorous protests to somewhere that could not be observed in order to commit this offence.

“You both knew perfectly well that what you were doing was criminal and wrong.”

Jahanzeb was sentenced to a youth detention term of 10 years and eight months, while Niazal was sentenced to nine years and 10 months.

Both pleaded guilty to rape at an earlier hearing at Coventry youth court.

It comes after reporting restrictions protecting their identities were lifted on Monday.

The judge accepted that keeping existing restrictions in place could lead to speculation which might see innocent people being targeted.

“A lack of information stokes public anger and leads to the unchecked spread of false information,” the judge said.

Jahanzeb and Niazal pleaded guilty at a hearing at Coventry youth court in October to attacking the girl in May of this year.

Both defendants were committed to the Crown Court for sentence, each appearing in the dock assisted by their own interpreter.

The rape, which took place after the victim had become separated from friends in a grassed area, was described as “horrific” during legal submissions regarding reporting restrictions.

Opening the facts of the case against Jahanzeb and Niazal on Monday, prosecutor Shawn Williams said both defendants were unaccompanied child asylum seekers.

Jahanzeb fled Afghanistan and underwent an age assessment, which concluded he was 17, after arriving in the UK in January this year, Mr Williams said.

Niazal arrived in the UK in November last year, initially being accommodated in Kent before being moved into local authority care in the Warwickshire area.

Mr Williams told the court that video evidence recovered during a police inquiry showed Jahanzeb in the company of the victim and speaking in Pashto to summon Niazal to join him.

Footage from a mobile phone recovered during the inquiry was highly distressing, Mr Williams said, adding that the victim had screamed for help, but Jahanzeb had placed his hand over her mouth.

The victim had made “explicit verbal protests” during what Mr Williams described as “an abduction”.

Mr Williams said of CCTV footage showing three figures: “She was being led away against her will.

“She was moved to a bushy den-type area – a really secluded location.”

The victim, who was terrified, recalls that she was then pushed to her knees before being raped.

“The prosecution case is that it was probably Jahanzeb that did that, but what is certain is that Israr Niazal was present and participating,” Mr Williams said.

The victim had repeatedly shouted for Jahanzeb to let go of her, the court heard, but he beckoned to Niazal to join him before leading the girl to the rape scene.

She was eventually assisted by a member of the public who advised her to contact the police and stayed with her until she was safe.

In an impact statement read to the court by a barrister, the victim, who cannot be identified, said: “The day I was raped changed me as a person.

“Now every time I go out, I don’t feel safe.

“Watching (other family members) feeling crushed as they believe they should have been there or done something is particularly painful for me, even though I know they couldn’t have done anything to stop what happened.

“I hate the fact that I am now looked at as a victim, even though that’s exactly what I am.”

During mitigation, Joshua Radcliffe, defending Niazal, said the offence his client had committed was “horrible” and would merit a substantial period of detention.

“He has come to this country seeking to get away from the Taliban,” Mr Radcliffe said. “His father, who was in the Afghan Army, was murdered.”

Mr Radcliffe said Niazal was still seeking asylum and intended “to make a life in this country after he has been released”.

The court was told Niazal pleaded guilty a day before his 17th birthday – the cut-off point for automatic deportation of foreign criminals sentenced to more than a year in custody.

Robert Holt, for Jahanzeb, said the teenager had spent nine months travelling from Afghanistan to the UK, eventually arriving in British waters on a small boat.

Jahanzeb, who turns 18 in three weeks after being assigned January 1 as his birthday after age assessments, fled because his father had been involved in a fatal accident, prompting the bereaved family to threaten him, it was claimed.

He has already been served with deportation papers, the court heard.