A pair of Afghan asylum seekers were able to roam the streets free for weeks after admitting to the rape of a 15-year-old schoolgirl, it has emerged.
Jan Jahanzeb and Israr Niazal, both aged 17, pleaded guilty at a hearing at Coventry youth court in October to attacking the girl in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, in May of this year.
Despite their guilty pleas, the teens were allowed to remain in social services accommodation, with restrictions only requiring them to stay indoors between 7pm and 7am.
They were not then placed in youth detention until weeks later, the Daily Mail reports.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp branded the decision "shocking".
"It is shocking that these dangerous Afghan criminals - who brutally raped a 15-year-old girl - were allowed to roam free for a month," Mr Philp said.
"Women and girls are not safe under this Labour Government. The system is simply not working."
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick added that the "vile individuals" should be "sent back to Afghanistan, never to return".
Jahanzeb and Niazal both pleaded guilty to rape
|WARWICKSHIRE POLICE
Warwick Crown Court heard the highly-distressed victim was attacked at Newbold Comyn Park in Leamington Spa after she had become separated from a number of friends near the town centre.
Sentencing the youths on Monday, December 8, Judge Sylvia de Bertodano said the victim had made “vigorous protests” while being deliberately taken to a secluded area.
The judge told Jahanzeb, who has already been served with deportation notification papers, and Niazal: “What you two did on that evening changed her life forever.“
“No child should have to suffer the ordeal that she suffered. It’s clear from the footage we have seen that no one can seriously entertain the thought that you believed she was consenting.
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The pair were sentenced at Warwick Crown Court
| PA“This is a case where it was absolutely clear to both of you that you were taking a child away from her friends in the face of her vigorous protests to somewhere that could not be observed in order to commit this offence.
“You both knew perfectly well that what you were doing was criminal and wrong.”
Jahanzeb was sentenced to a youth detention term of 10 years and eight months, while Niazal was sentenced to nine years and 10 months.
The judge lifted reporting restrictions protecting the identities of the defendants, who she said had “betrayed” those who come to Britain seeking sanctuary and who observed the laws of this country.
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 the company of the victim and speaking in Pashto to summon Niazal to join him.
The phone footage 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 (the victim) 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 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.
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