Three Afghan Men Jailed for Rape of Teenager After Failed Flight to Continent

Three Afghan nationals who raped a 17-year-old girl in Bristol before attempting to flee the United Kingdom have been sentenced to significant prison terms, after French authorities apprehended them while they were hiding in the back of a lorry.

Mehrab Safi, 21, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, while fellow defendants Awal Ahmadzai and Salman Habibkheil, both 19, received nine-year sentences in youth detention centres. The sentencing took place at Bristol Crown Court on Tuesday.

The court heard that Safi initially met the victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, during a Christmas shopping trip at Cabot Circus in November 2024. Following the encounter, Safi groomed the teenager via Snapchat and persuaded her to send nude photographs. He subsequently arranged for a taxi to transport the 17-year-old from her home in Somerset to a property in the St Werburghs area of Bristol on the early hours of 30 November.

Upon arrival, the girl was given alcohol and subsequently raped by Safi, Ahmadzai, and Habibkheil over several hours. A fourth individual, a 17-year-old Afghan national, was also convicted of rape in connection with the incident. Unlike the three men, he did not attempt to evade capture and was sentenced to two years and seven months in a youth detention centre.

After the attacks, police arrived at the property following a missing person report from the victim’s mother. While the teenager was arrested at the scene, the three older men fled. They travelled through Birmingham and London before attempting to board a lorry bound for the continent.

French police discovered the men in Calais, leading to their immediate arrest upon return to the UK. Mobile phone footage obtained by prosecutors showed the men laughing and gesturing in the rear of the lorry, which the prosecution argued indicated a belief that they had successfully escaped justice.

Det Sgt Jo Babbage of Avon and Somerset Police praised the victim’s courage, noting that the grooming process had begun merely five days prior to the assaults. “It’s clear that’s where the grooming and the contact process was started,” Babbage said. “As a parent, hearing that a Christmas shopping trip ended in this way makes you feel terrified for your children.”

In a victim impact statement read to the court, the teenager described enduring “unimaginable” trauma. She revealed that she no longer leaves her house without her mother or best friend and suffers from panic attacks and disturbing dreams related to the assault.

Judge Michael Cullum acknowledged the difficult backgrounds of the offenders, noting that some had experienced trauma in Afghanistan, including the loss of a parent to the Taliban. However, he stressed that these circumstances were no justification for their actions. He stated that the cumulative trauma inflicted on the victim would “undoubtedly live with her forever.”

All four defendants have been placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely and are subject to sexual harm prevention orders, which prohibit them from communicating with children.