Three men who raped woman on Brighton beach jailed

Three men who raped a woman on Brighton beach in an "entirely predatory, callous and contemptuous" attack have been jailed.

Asylum seekers Abdulla Ahmadi, Ibrahim Alshafe and Karin Al-Danasurt attacked the woman in the early hours of 4 October.

The victim, who jurors heard was "led into the darkness to be used as a sexual plaything", said she still heard their laughter when she closed her eyes, adding: "My skin crawls - no matter how hard I scrub it I still feel dirty."

Ahmadi, 26, from Iran, and Alshafe, 26, from Egypt, were each jailed for 21 years. Al-Danasurt, 21, also from Egypt, was convicted of rape as a secondary party for filming the attack and was jailed for 18 years and six months.

Sentencing the three men at Hove Crown Court, Her Honour Judge Christine Henson KC said each of them "participated in an entirely predatory and callous attack".

She added: "The impact on your victim was and continues to be devastating. It has had a life changing profound and irrevocable impact on her."

Each of the men, who were living in a Home Office hotel in Horsham at the time of the offence, will also spend a further six years on extended licence, and will serve two thirds of their sentence before they can be considered for parole.

Warning: Some readers may find the following details distressing.

The court previously heard from prosecutor Hanna Llewellyn-Waters KC, who said the three men were "on the lookout for women that night for sexual purposes" as they visited bars and nightclubs on Brighton seafront.

After leaving a club, the men crossed paths with the woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, at a fast-food restaurant and they all went to the beach.

Jurors heard the woman was "staggering in the street" and was "incapacitated".

Alshafe and Ahmadi took her behind a beach hut, where they raped her while Al-Danasurt filmed the ordeal.

The trial heard the woman recalled being spat on, kicked and her throat being grabbed during the attack.

Alshafe and Ahmadi had tried to claim during the trial the encounter was consensual, while Al-Danasurt claimed he was filming to try to help the woman by capturing potential evidence.

Their victim said she had regained consciousness lying on the beach and thought she was going to be killed.

Breaking down in tears, she told the court that every time she closed her eyes she saw "the filmer's face" laughing at her.

In a statement read to the court, the woman said: "If I could do one thing, I would go back to that night and never go out.

"All I see when I close my eyes is the man who was filming it. All I can hear is the seagulls and the waves and the laughter in my head."

She said: "Sometimes it feels like the noises will never stop.

"I ask myself what kind of person would do this, let alone three."

She continued: "My skin crawls no matter how hard I scrub it I still feel dirty.

"I doubt I will ever be able to visit the beach down there ever again.

"They took something from me that no one had a right to do so."

The court was told the three defendants knew each other and were living at Home Office-approved hotel accommodation for asylum seekers in Lower Beeding, near Horsham, West Sussex.

Ahmadi and Alshafe met on a small boat from France arriving in the UK in June 2025, while Alshafe and Al-Danasurt, who arrived in the UK in October 2024, were roommates at the hotel.

The evening before the attack the three got ready at the hotel before getting a bus into Brighton.

The jury was told that during the night out, the friends went to a bar and nightclub on the beach where Alshafe chatted to a woman using Google Translate about his hopes to marry a woman and have children and get citizenship in the UK.

The prosecution told the court he had been a "nasty little predator" that night who had been rejected by several women and was "on the prowl" with the co-defendants.

After the attack, the men returned to their hotel by bus and had a barbecue later that evening, the jury heard.

Judge Henson said: "You each treated her with contempt and you each played a role in further degrading her in the most appalling way.

"The arrogant and entitled attitude you each displayed that night continued through your trial."

She also praised the victim, saying: "I hope that she can now focus on her tremendous bravery that she has demonstrated by contacting police and giving evidence to the jury allowing each of you to be brought to justice.

"It is my hope that she can now start to rebuild her life."

Speaking outside court, Sussex Police Ch Supt Karrie Bohanna also thanked the victim for her bravery, adding: "It is thanks to her bravery in the face of that trauma that three dangerous, predatory men no longer pose any threat to women and girls in Sussex."

She added: "Today's sentence will rightly see these three men face years behind bars."

Home Office minister Alex Norris described the case as "nothing short of gut wrenching".

In a statement from the victim, read by Sussex Police DI Kirstie Neal, she thanked the officers involved in the case, who "restored my faith in the police".

She added: "I wasn't going to report what happened at first, but I'm so glad I did, and was able to get justice.

"I don't think I will ever get over what happened, but hopefully they are in prison, the night will be a little less long."

On Wednesday the prosecution said the sentencing court should make its decision on the risk posed by the defendants "without regards to possibility that one day a defendant may be deported".

Ministers have vowed to deport the men after they were sentenced.

Additional reporting by PA Media

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