Three Asylum Seekers Jailed for Over Sixty Years After Hunting Down and Raping Vulnerable Woman On Brighton Beach

Three asylum seekers who targeted and repeatedly raped an incapacitated woman on Brighton beach have been jailed for a combined total of more than 60 years at Hove Crown Court.

Ibrahim Alshafe, 26, and Abdulla Ahmadi, 26, each received 21-year extended sentences after being convicted of two counts of rape. Their co-defendant, 21-year-old Karin Al-Danasurt, received an 18-year-and-six-month extended sentence after being convicted of four counts of rape as a secondary party for encouraging and filming the attack.

Sentencing the three men, Her Honour Judge Christine Henson KC imposed extended sentences, each including a six-year extended licence period to follow their custodial terms, after concluding that the defendants posed a significant ongoing risk to the public. Under the terms of the sentences, all three must serve at least two-thirds of their custodial terms before they can be considered for release by the Parole Board. Judge Henson described the offending as an “entirely predatory and callous attack” and said the defendants had exploited a vulnerable victim who had become separated from her friends during the early hours of 4 October last year.

The prosecution, led by Hanna Llewellyn-Waters KC, established that the three defendants had travelled from their Home Office-approved accommodation in Lower Beeding, near Horsham, to Brighton seafront with the intention of seeking out women for sexual purposes. The court heard that the victim was heavily intoxicated and visibly staggering through the streets when she was targeted by the group. Alshafe and Ahmadi then led her behind a beach hut on the shingle, where she was assaulted, including being spat on, kicked and grabbed by the throat, while Al-Danasurt recorded the attack on a mobile phone.

Read more: Liman Matubber Jailed for Nine Years After Carlisle Rape Conviction

During the trial, Alshafe, an Egyptian national, and Ahmadi, an Iranian national, claimed the sexual activity was consensual, asserting that the complainant had initiated the encounter on the seafront. Al-Danasurt, also an Egyptian national, told the jury he had filmed the assault in an attempt to secure evidence to assist the victim. The prosecution rejected those accounts as fabricated, relying on mobile phone footage showing Alshafe smiling and slapping the woman while the recording was being made.

In her victim personal statement, read to the court, the complainant described the devastating and irreversible impact the offences have had on her life. She said she remains haunted by the memory of the defendants laughing during the assault, adding that she continues to experience severe psychological distress and feels unable to return to the area. Judge Henson commended the victim’s exceptional bravery in reporting the attack to Sussex Police and giving evidence during the trial, which enabled the prosecution to secure convictions against all three men.

The court heard that Ahmadi and Alshafe arrived in the United Kingdom together after crossing the English Channel in a small boat from France in June 2025, while Al-Danasurt arrived by the same route in October 2024. Following the attack, the three men returned to their Home Office accommodation by bus before holding a barbecue later that evening while the victim underwent a forensic medical examination.

Before sentence was passed, the prosecution submitted that the court should assess the long-term risk posed by the defendants and determine the appropriate custodial terms without regard to the prospect of future deportation. Following the hearing, the Home Office said it intends to pursue deportation proceedings against the three men once they have completed their prison sentences.

Read more: Euston Road Rape: Man Jailed After Nationwide Manhunt