Ex-Border Force boss demands investigation after three asylum seekers found guilty of rape: 'Why wasn't it picked up?!'

Karin Al-Danasurt, 20, Abdulla Ahmadi, 26, and Ibrahim Alshafe, 25, were found guilty by a jury at Hove Crown Court in what prosecutors described as a "cynical, predatory and callous" assault.

The attack occurred in the early hours of October 4 last year after the 33-year-old victim became separated from her friends following a night out at a nightclub.

All three men had travelled to the UK on small boats and were residing at the Cisswood House Hotel in Horsham, West Sussex, a Home Office-approved accommodation for asylum seekers.

However, Al-Danasurt was previously convicted of murder in Egypt following his arrival in the UK, and was fleeing his home country to escape a "lengthy" prison sentence.

Reacting to the case, Mr Smith questioned how the information was missed during checks on Al-Danasurt upon arrival to the UK.

He said: "We do biometric and biographic checks and Interpol checks before they are released in the community.

"Clearly in this case, nothing came back or nothing adverse came back, which meant they were granted temporary mission and then went on to commit those crimes.

"So I think that we do need an investigation into how that happened, and how we did find out about this potential wanted missing notice in Egypt.

"If there's a wanted missing notice like these, in my experience usually being Interpol red notice, we do check those. I don't know why it wasn't picked up then at the border in the first place."

Mr Smith criticised the length of time that Border Force are allowed to hold illegal migrants to conduct these in depth checks.

He said: "I remember about a year ago talking about the checks that we do when people do come off small boats, the length of time that we are allowed or not allowed to hold them for those checks to take place.

"But my first concern is, how was it that this information came to light only after he'd committed an offence?"

Al-Danasurt would face the death penalty in his home country, which Mr Smith explained that the situation will prompt a "dialogue between the police, the Foreign Office and the Egyptians" as to where he should go.

He told GB News: "It is a really difficult conundrum that we're in here where he will argue, no doubt that by returning him to face a trial in Egypt, he could face the death penalty.

"And of course, because we don't have the death penalty in this country, he will argue that would breach his human rights and that that is not the right thing to do.

"That will involve a dialogue between the police, the Foreign Office and the Egyptians to determine what precise circumstances would apply if we were to return him to Egypt before completion of his sentence here, or even after that."

Calling for more strenuous checks on asylum seekers entering Britain to help reduce such crimes, Mr Smith concluded: "Increasingly we have another example of somebody who's come through on a small boat and has gone on to commit crime, and it emerges later in the day that they are convicted or wanted for something much more serious overseas, which goes through our screening processes.

"And I would like to see boat migrants who come here deliberately undocumented detained by us until we are absolutely satisfied that we have done every check in the book, regardless of how long the check needs to come back.

"If I had my old job back, I'd say to Government and ministers, we need powers to detain them.

"And we've only got 48 hours at Manston, that's not long enough, so people are getting through.

"This is a real dilemma for the Government and a real dilemma for the ministers to work out. Well, what is the dividing line and how do we approach that problem?"

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the Rape Crisis England & Wales 24/7 support line for free on 0808 500 2222 or visit 247sexualabusesupport.org.uk.