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Two teenage Afghan asylum seekers, who arrived in Britain alone within the past year, received lengthy detention sentences Monday for the sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl in central England.
The suspects, Jan Jahanzeb and Israr Niazal, both 17, assaulted the girl in a Leamington Spa park in May after removing her from her friends while she was heavily intoxicated, prosecutors told Warwick Crown Court.
A video the distressed girl managed to record during the assault was played at the trial, showing her crying loudly and pleading, “Please help me… let me go… I want to go home.”
In a victim impact statement, the girl said, “The day I was raped changed me as a person,” describing it as her first sexual experience.
This incident has became part of a broader political debate in Britain, where concerns over crimes, particularly sexual offenses committed by asylum seekers, are rising amid efforts to curb the surge of migrants crossing the English Channel by small boats.
Recent cases include an Afghan national admitting to raping a 12-year-old girl in Nuneaton, and an Ethiopian man serving time after being convicted of sexually assaulting a teenage girl and an adult woman in Epping, north of London. These incidents sparked protests, some turning violent, and demonstrations outside hotels housing asylum seekers. Immigration issues have also boosted the popularity of the nationalist Reform UK party in opinion polls.
Recognizing the public concern, Judge Sylvia de Bertodano ordered that the two 17-year-olds be named, citing the public interest, despite their age.
Jahanzeb, who will turn 18 at the beginning of next year, was sentenced to 10 years and eight months in prison, while Niazal received a sentence of nine years and 10 months.
Jahanzeb’s attorney, Robert Holt, stated his client traveled solo through Europe, attempting four times to cross the Channel on a small boat before successfully reaching Britain in January. He is expected to be deported after serving his sentence.
Niazal’s lawyer, Joshua Radcliffe, explained that his client arrived alone in November to escape the Taliban, who had murdered his father, a former Afghan army member. He awaits a decision on his asylum application, though the judge indicated she would recommend his deportation once he completes his sentence.
Judge de Bertodano emphasized that the teenagers had acted against the interests of those seeking refuge in Britain.
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