Teen asylum seekers from Afghanistan sentenced for rape

Two young Afghan citizens who sought asylum in the UK were sentenced to prison for the rape of a 15-year-old girl in Leamington Spa.

Jan Jahanzeb and Israr Niazal, both 17 years old, pleaded guilty to the May 10 attack at the hearing in October.

At a sentencing hearing at Warwick Crown Court on Monday, Judge Sylvia de Bertodano lifted news restrictions on naming boys after appeals from media outlets including the BBC.

Deportation papers were delivered to Cihanzeb. He was sentenced to 10 years and 8 months of youth detention. Niazal, whom the judge invited the government to recommend for deportation, was sentenced to 9 years and 10 months in prison.

The court heard an impact statement on behalf of the victim: “The day I was raped changed me as a person.

“I don’t feel safe every time I go out anymore.”

He added: “We are watching [other family members] It’s especially painful for me to be crushed because they believe they have to be there or do something, even though I know they can’t do anything to stop what’s happening.

“I hate that I’m now seen as a victim, even though that’s exactly what I am.”

At the opening of the hearing, prosecutor Shawn Williams said that the defendants, each accompanied by their own translator, were unaccompanied child asylum seekers.

Mr Williams said Jahanzeb fled Afghanistan and was subject to an age assessment after arriving in the UK in January, which concluded he was 17 years old.

Niazal arrived in November last year. He was initially housed in Kent before being moved into local authority care in the Warwickshire area.

The rape, which took place after the victim was separated from her friends on a grass field, has been described as “appalling” in legal applications for reporting restrictions.

Mr Williams told the court that video evidence showed Jahanzeb speaking Pashto, Afghanistan’s official language, to the victim as he urged Niazal to join him.

Mr Williams said the footage, taken from a mobile phone seized by police, was extremely distressing and added that the victim screamed for help but Jahanzeb put his hand over her mouth.

He said Jahanzeb and Niazal took the extremely distressed victim to a “den-type” area of ​​the Leamington Spa car park where they attacked him.

The victim had repeatedly shouted at Jahanzeb to let him go as he was being taken away.

He was then helped by a member of the public who advised him to contact the police and stayed with him until he was safe.

Announcing his decision to lift the reporting restrictions, the judge said that continuing these restrictions could lead to speculation that could lead to innocent people being targeted.

“Lack of information fuels public anger and leads to the uncontrolled spread of misinformation,” he said.

The victim’s mother said in another impact statement: “We have seen our lively, happy and confident daughter shrink and suffer so much from anxiety that she often becomes physically ill.”

He added of the attack: “Something broke inside all of us that day.”