A young mum tricked into a taxi before being raped by a man who followed her after Christmas night out said she thought she was ‘going to die’.
Mohammed Al Masri, 25, tricked the ‘extremely drunk’ lone woman, telling her he would take her home in an Uber. He in fact took her back to his east Manchester HMO where he raped her as a friend watched and possibly filmed part of the attack, a court heard.
Officers arrested him moments after the attack after she managed to send her live location to her boyfriend via WhatsApp, who then alerted the police.
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Al Masri – a political refugee from the Assad regime in Syria – was today (Friday, August 7) ruled to be a dangerous offender by a judge as he was jailed for eight years.
The victim, in her 20s, had been out drinking with a friend in Manchester city centre on a ‘pre-Christmas night out’ on December 21 last year, Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court was told.
At the end of the night they ‘went their separate ways’ and the woman tried to get a taxi, Lewis Hazeldine, prosecuting, said.
Moment rapist says ‘no understand’ to police officers as he is is arrested
“She was followed by the defendant and an associate,” Mr Hazeldine said. The woman was concerned enough to tell her boyfriend, who she was on the phone to.
The men began speaking to her and ‘offered to get her an Uber home’, the prosecutor said. She saw them type her postcode into the Uber app, so was ‘satisfied they were taking her home’, he said.
But as soon as she got into the car, she began ‘to feel unsafe’ and feeling the effects of alcohol, saying her ‘head was starting to spin’, he added.
The taxi driver told police she ‘fell asleep on the defendant’s shoulder’ and later ‘with her head in his lap’. She had the ‘presence of mind’ to share her live location with her boyfriend.
Rather than take her home, the men took her to the house of multiple occupancy (HMO) in Abbey Hey, Gorton, where Al Masri was living. The victim was so intoxicated, she had to be ‘lifted and carried out of the taxi by the two men’ and was taken to the defendant’s bedroom, Mr Hazeldine said.
Mohammed Al Masri in police body cam footage(Image: GMP)
Al Masri told the woman ‘she was safe’, that her boyfriend ‘on his way to collect her’ and told her to go to sleep and wait for him to arrive. She ‘passed out’ on the bed, Mr Hazeldine said.
The woman later became aware Al Masri was raping her. She was ‘frightened she may [have ended] up dead’ and ‘her instinct was not to fight’, Mr Hazeldine said.
The other man was in the room, at the end of the bed. The victim believes he was recording the attack on his mobile phone.
After seeing her live location, the woman’s boyfriend rang 999 and officers raced to the address on Gordon Street, Abbey Hey, in the early hours of December 22. She was ‘extremely distressed’ and ‘jumped into the arms’ of the female officers who responded, it was heard.
Al Masri accepted he had had sex with the woman but told police it was consensual and that she had initiated it.
Al Masri, of no fixed address, denied one count of rape but following a trial was last month found guilty by a jury, on a majority of 10-2. On Friday, he appeared back in court to be sentenced.
His victim sat in the public gallery, protected a by a screen. She briefly left court, visibly distressed, as a victim impact statement was read out on her behalf.
“I remember thinking ‘I am going to die’…”
In the statement, she said: “It should have been a night I remember for all the right reasons. However, now, it is a night I never want to think about.
“I will never forget the fear that I felt when this man took me to his house. I had no idea who he was. I had no idea where I was. I genuinely questioned if I would leave this place with my life.
“There were so many thoughts running through my mind when I arrived at his house however, this man tried to reassure me and tell me that I was going to be safe and my boyfriend was coming. This was all a sick lie.
“I don’t remember much of what happened in the room. I don’t want to remember. I do, however, remember how I felt. I remember not being able to move my body because I was so frozen with fear. I remember thinking ‘I am going to die
“I was thinking about my Children and how they would be able to live without a Mum. I just wanted it all to be over.
“The next thing I remember is the police entering the room and I have never felt relief like it. I knew I was going to live. This was not the end of what happened to me. I feel like this was only the beginning.
“After it all happened, I felt like I was a zombie. I could not speak to anybody. I was numb. I was emotionless. I felt nothing. I couldn’t interact with my children and felt like I was unable to be a real mum.
“I couldn’t leave the house. I was terrified. I did not trust anybody and couldn’t interact with anybody. I feel like I put myself in self-isolation. I was trying to process what happened but all I could think about was what this man has done to me.
“I could not even rest in my own home due to the constant unsettling feeling of fear and anxiety running through me. It was constant.”
She said she believed the second man had filmed her and that it felt as if ‘everyone that looks at me had seen it’. “I question myself everyday,” she added.
“Why didn’t I fight? What could I have done to stop it? I think about what else could have happened if the police hadn’t come. People ask me if I’m okay and I say yes. In reality, I’m not. I am the one who has to deal with this and try and move on. I will never be able to forget what this man did to me.
“This man has changed me. When I met up with my friend on December 21, I was a different person then, to who I am now. I will never be that person again because of what this man has done to me.”
Keith Harrison, defending Al Masri, said he was a ‘political refugee from the Assad regime’ in Syria, and that he was granted five years leave to remain, which expires in 2029. He said he was ‘not a person who is work shy’ and that he had worked both in Syria and in the UK. He said he had no previous convictions and described the offence as a ‘one-off’.
Judge Recorder Alexandra Simmonds said there were ‘elements of abduction’ as the woman was ‘deceived her into thinking she was being taken home’.
She said the victim was ‘in a vlunerable state’ and was ‘in no condition to make any free and informed decision about sexual activity’. “She was not consenting, and you must have known that,” she told Al Masri as she passed sentence.
The victim also had to suffer the ‘degridation and humiliation’ of the presence of the second man, she said. Al Masri said had maintained his innocence despite the ‘overwhelming evidence to the contrary’, the judge added.
Al Masri was also made subject to notification requirements for life, a 10 year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO), and a restraining order. He may be deported but that would be a ‘matter for immigration, not this court’ his barrister said.
In a statement issued following the hearing, Anna Mackenzie from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said: “Mohammed Al Masri posed as a ‘good samaritan’ when he offered to help the woman get a taxi home after a night out, but his motives were far more sinister.
“The way he targeted a lone woman who he believed would be vulnerable through alcohol was both calculating and insidious. Al Masri’s vile actions have had a lasting impact on the woman. I truly hope today’s sentence will help her move forward knowing that without her bravery and support, this dangerous man would still be in our community.
“There is no place for rape or sexual violence in our society, and the CPS is determined to bring offenders to justice.”
Detective Constable Oliver Smith, from GMP, said: “I’d like to thank the brave survivor for her courage and support throughout the process of this investigation.
“I hope the sentencing of this vile sexual predator offers her a sense of solace while she looks to move on and rebuild her life. I urge anyone who might have experienced rape or sexual assault to please come forward and report it. You will always be listened to and supported.”
Where to go if you’ve been affected by rape or sexual assault
– Saint Mary’s Sexual Assault Referral Centre, Manchester provides a comprehensive and co-ordinated response to men, women and children who live, or have been sexually assaulted, within Greater Manchester. They offer forensic medical examinations, practical and emotional support as well as a counselling service for all ages. Services are available on a 24-hour basis and can be accessed by calling 0161 276 6515.
– Greater Manchester Rape Crisis is a confidential information, support and counselling service run by women for women over 18 who have been raped or sexually abused at any time in their lives. Call on 0161 273 4500 or email help@manchesterrapecrisis.co.uk
– We Are Survivors provides specialist trauma informed support to male victims in Greater Manchester who have experienced sexual abuse, rape or sexual exploitation. Call 0161 236 2182 for help.
– Always call 999 in an emergency