How many more women have to be destroyed before someone in Westminster admits the obvious? Three asylum seekers picked up a vulnerable woman in Brighton, dragged her behind a beach hut and raped her while one filmed the whole thing for laughs. Yesterday at Hove Crown Court they got sent down. Big deal.
Abdulla Ahmadi, 26, from Iran. Ibrahim Alshafe, 25, from Egypt. Karin Al-Danasurt, 20, also Egyptian. All arrived by small boat or similar. All housed in Home Office-approved hotels near Horsham. All free to roam British streets and hunt for victims. The judge called it an entirely predatory and callous attack. She was right.
You each participated in an entirely predatory and callous attack. The impact on your victim was and continues to be devastating. It has had a life changing profound and irrevocable impact on her.
That's Her Honour Judge Christine Henson KC laying it out plain. The victim told the court she still hears their laughter when she closes her eyes. Her skin crawls no matter how hard she scrubs. She doubts she'll ever go near that beach again. They took something from her that nobody had any right to touch.
Yet here we are. Again. Men who crossed the Channel in dinghies, claimed asylum, had their claims refused, appealed anyway, and still lived on the public purse while they waited for their chance. Their chance came on 4 October last year. A drunk woman separated from her friends. Easy prey.
Twenty-one years each for the two main rapists. Eighteen and a half for the one who filmed and cheered them on. Another six years on extended licence. Ministers promise deportation after they've served their time. We've heard that one before. How many foreign national offenders are still walking around because removal flights get cancelled or lawyers find another loophole?
This isn't bad luck. This is policy meeting reality. We let in thousands who have no right to be here. We house them. We feed them. We process their endless appeals. Then we act shocked when some treat British women like disposable entertainment. The arrogant and entitled attitude the judge mentioned didn't start on that beach. It started the moment they realised the system had no teeth.
