Judge lifts ban on naming child asylum seekers who both raped teenage West Midlands girl
A judge has lifted reporting restrictions protecting the identities of two Afghan asylum seekers aged 17 who carried out the “horrific” rape of a teenage girl in the West Midlands.
Warwick Crown Court was told Jan Jahanzeb and Israr Niazal led the highly-distressed 15-year-old victim into a “den-type” area in parkland in Leamington Spa where they attacked her.
Ruling that the youths should be identified after applications to name them by four media organisations including the Press Association, Judge Sylvia de Bertodano accepted that keeping existing restrictions in place could lead to speculation which might see innocent people being targeted.
“A lack of information stokes public anger and leads to the unchecked spread of false information,” the judge said.
Jahanzeb and Niazal pleaded guilty at a hearing at Coventry youth court in October to attacking the girl in May of this year.
Both defendants were committed to the Crown Court for sentence, each appearing in the dock assisted by their own interpreter.
The rape, which took place after the victim had become separated from friends in a grassed area, was described as “horrific” during legal submissions regarding reporting restrictions.
Unaccompanied child asylum seekers
Opening the facts of the case against Jahanzeb and Niazal on Monday, Prosecutor Shawn Williams said both defendants were unaccompanied child asylum seekers.
Jahanzeb fled Afghanistan and underwent an age assessment which concluded he was 17 after arriving in the UK in January this year, Mr Williams said.
Niazal arrived in the UK in November last year, initially being accommodated in Kent before being moved into local authority care in the Warwickshire area.
Mr Williams told the court that video evidence recovered during a police inquiry showed Jahanzeb in company with the victim and speaking in Pashto to summon Niazal to join him.
Footage from a mobile phone recovered during the inquiry was highly distressing, Mr Williams said, adding that the victim had screamed for help but Jahanzeb had placed his hand over her mouth.
The victim had made “explicit verbal protests” during what Mr Williams described as “an abduction”.
Mr Williams said of CCTV footage showing three figures: “She was being led away against her will.
“She was moved to a bushy den-type area – a really secluded location.”
The victim, who was terrified, recalls that she was then pushed to her knees before being raped.
“The prosecution case is that it was probably Jahanzeb that did that, but what is certain is that Israr Niazal was present and participating,” Mr Williams said.
