Two teenage illegal migrants from Afghanistan have been sentenced to prison for the rape of a 15-year-old girl in a park in the English town of Leamington Spa in Warwickshire.
Jan Jahanzeb and Israr Niazal, who both arrived illegally on small boats across the English Channel from France as unaccompanied minors, have been sentenced to ten years and eight months and nine years and ten months in prison respectively for the rape of a 15-year-old girl in May.
Both Afghan nationals were being housed in taxpayer funded accommodation at the time of the brutal attack, The Times of London reported.
Despite the two migrant rapists being aged 17 years old, Judge Sylvia de Bertodano decided that it was in the public interest to reveal their names at Warwick crown court on Monday. This came despite warnings from the defence that disclosing their names and nationality could spark “widespread public disorder” and protests as occurred over the summer in response to other sexual assaults committed by illegal boat migrants.
During the trial, the defence also attempted to excuse the rape of the 15-year-old girl by citing “cultural differences” and the supposed trauma experienced by the rapists while growing up in their native Afghanistan.
Barrister Joshua Radcliffe, who defended Niazal, told the court that his client is “not used to a society where women are free and deemed equal to men. He is not used to a society where alcohol is freely available. He is morally at sea. There are massive cultural barriers that have become massive moral barriers.”
However, Judge Bertodano rejected this defence, saying that while there are “significant cultural differences” between Afghanistan and Britain, the defendants still should understand that concept of consent.
Describing the attack, prosecutor Shawn Williams told the court that the 15-year-old girl was “abducted” by Jahanzeb who took her to a secluded area of Newbold Comyn park where they met his compatriot Niazal and they forced her to perform oral sex on them.
“The video footage is of a highly distressing nature,” Williams said. “She is heard explicitly saying, ‘You are going to rape me, let me go’. She is pleading for help from passers by. Tragically that plea for help went unanswered,” the prosecutor said.
“During the video Jahanzeb is heard telling her to shush. He can be seen to put his hand over her mouth, presumably in an effort to silence her. She recalls being terrified and wanting the ordeal to be over quickly.”
In a victim statement to the court, the girl said: “The day I was raped changed me as a person. I am no longer a happy, care-free teenager. This was my first sexual experience. Now every time I go out I don’t feel safe. This has also impacted my education and school life at the worst possible time as I am taking my GCSEs. The thought of facing people at school makes me feel physically sick.
“Watching my older siblings and mum feeling crushed, as they believe they should have been there or done something, is particularly painful for me. I hate that I’m now looked at as a victim, even though that’s exactly what I am.”
The case has already sparked steep political backlash against Britain’s lax immigration system. Independent MP and leader of Restore Britain, Rupert Lowe remarked: “I feel sick with anger. We do not have to live like this. These men should NEVER have been allowed into our country. Let’s be clear here – their presence is a political choice. And there is an answer. We need to round up every single illegal migrant living in Britain and send them home. Not some of them. Not most of them all. ALL of them.
“No more asylum seekers. No more small boat migrants. No more. Not one more. Mass deportations. NOW.”
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