Two Afghan asylum seekers, each 17, have been handed prolonged jail sentences for the brutal rape of a 15-year-old schoolgirl in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire.
Jan Jahanzeb and Israr Niazal, who had arrived within the UK simply months earlier by small boat, carried out the surprising assault on May 10, with the sufferer herself capturing the ordeal on her telephone.
According to the Daily Mail, the footage, described as “genuinely horrific” by one of many defendants’ personal attorneys, was so disturbing that it was feared it might spark riots if launched to the general public.
Joshua Radcliffe, representing Niazal, warned the courtroom, “I have no doubt that if the general public were exposed to that, we would have disorder on our hands.”
Victim’s harrowing screams and determined pleas caught on digital camera
In the distressing three-minute clip performed at Warwick Crown Court, the schoolgirl may be heard crying, “you’re going to rape me,” as she is dragged away from associates she had been consuming with.
The video additionally captures her determined screams for assist and heart-wrenching pleas to not be taken to the park, the place she was finally pressured to carry out a intercourse act on her attackers.
Judge Sylvia de Bertodano, who sentenced Jahanzeb to 10 years and eight months and Niazal to 9 years and ten months, additionally accepted a authorized problem mounted by the Daily Mail, permitting the defendants to be named for the primary time.
She admonished the pair for “betraying the interests” of real refugees and stated they “should feel a deep and lasting sense of shame.”
Lawyer makes an attempt to censor press reporting on attackers’ backgrounds
Robert Holt, defending Jahanzeb, made the extraordinary request that the decide stop the press from even mentioning that the defendants had been Afghan asylum seekers, in an obvious try to downplay their backgrounds.
The sufferer, in a robust affect assertion, revealed how the rape has profoundly affected her life, robbing her of her childhood and leaving her feeling unsafe. She shared that the trauma has additionally impacted her schooling and college life through the essential time of her GCSE exams.
Deportation advisable, however one attacker could keep
While the decide confirmed she would suggest the Home Secretary think about deporting each attackers, Niazal could also be allowed to remain within the nation as he pleaded responsible a day earlier than turning 17, making him too younger to qualify for computerized deportation. His barrister even prompt this might enable the youthful rapist to “make a life for himself in this country” upon launch.
Attackers lived in taxpayer-funded housing
At the time of the assault, Jahanzeb and Niazal had been dwelling in taxpayer-funded homes, having arrived within the UK by small boat as unaccompanied kids.
Jahanzeb had reportedly solely succeeded in making the crossing in January, after three earlier failed makes an attempt that noticed French police repeatedly slicing up his dinghy.
The case has highlighted the potential risks of releasing such disturbing footage to the general public, with the lawyer’s stark warning concerning the threat of dysfunction serving as a chilling reminder of the affect such proof might have if broadly circulated.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/2143938/lawyers-teen-asylum-seekers-say