Two asylum seekers who repeatedly raped a woman on Brighton beach while a third filmed the attack have been jailed for more than 60 years. Ibrahim Alshafe, 26, and Abdulla Ahmadi, 26, were each sentenced to 21 years, while Karin Al-Danasurt, 21, received 18 years and six months for encouraging and filming the rapes.
The three men, all living at Home Office-approved hotel accommodation for asylum seekers in Lower Beeding, near Horsham, West Sussex, targeted the woman after spotting her 'staggering in the street' in the early hours of October 4. Alshafe and Ahmadi took the 'incapacitated' woman behind a beach hut where they raped her while Al-Danasurt filmed the ordeal. The woman later recalled being laughed at, spat on, kicked and having her throat grabbed.
“Two asylum seekers jailed 21 years each for raping woman on Brighton beach; third jailed 18 years for filming attack.”
In a victim impact statement read to the court at Wednesday's sentencing hearing, the woman said: 'They destroyed my life that night, they took something from me nobody had the right to do so.' She added: 'They took something from me that night I'm afraid I will never get back. To not take accountability for their actions (is) like sticking a knife in and twisting it again.' She told the court that when she closes her eyes she sees the man filming and them all 'laughing at me'. 'My skin crawls. No matter how hard I scrub it, I still feel dirty,' she said.
Sentencing the men, Judge Christine Henson KC said: 'Each of you participated in an entirely predatory and callous attack on a female separated from her friends after what had been a fun night out for her. You each treated her with contempt, and you each played a role in degrading her in the most appalling way.' Prosecutor Hanna Llewellyn-Waters KC described the men as 'devoid of humanity' and said their treatment of the woman was 'entirely predatory, callous and contemptuous'. She described the impact on the woman as 'extreme'.
Alshafe and Ahmadi were found guilty of two counts of rape, while Al-Danasurt was found guilty of four counts of rape as a secondary party. The three defendants knew each other: Ahmadi and Alshafe met on a small boat from France, arriving in the UK on June 19, 2025. The attack has prompted Metro, which launched its 'This Is Not Right' campaign in November 2024, to highlight what it calls a 'relentless epidemic of violence against women'.