Migrants convicted of sex offences 'claim trauma to get shorter sentences'

The cases span multiple nationalities, including an Egyptian convicted of rape, a Syrian sexual assault perpetrator, a Ukrainian who escaped custody altogether, and two Afghan teenagers imprisoned for attacking a young girl.

The emerging pattern has sparked significant backlash, with critics arguing that such claims are being exploited to avoid appropriate punishment for serious offences.

Egyptian national, Abdelrahmen Adnan Abouelela, 42, was convicted of raping a woman in Hyde Park and told the court he suffered from "borderline emotionally unstable personality disorder and PTSD as a result of experiences in Egypt".

Judge Gregory Perrins initially raised the sentence to the maximum within the relevant bracket due to the severe impact on the victim, but subsequently reduced it.

"I then make a reduction to take account of your lack of previous convictions whilst in this country and what I have read about you in the psychiatric report," the judge stated.

Abouelela ultimately received eight and a half years, marginally above the eight-year starting point.

Following the ruling, the Daily Mail revealed he had been convicted in absentia in Egypt in 2015 for involvement in a bomb-making cell linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, receiving a seven-year sentence.

He fled Egypt and sought asylum upon arriving in Britain in April 2023, residing in taxpayer-funded hotel accommodation.

When the case was relisted, prosecutors could not provide evidence of his prior convictions.

A separate case involved Hassan Abou Hayleh, a Syrian refugee convicted in November 2024 of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman in Weymouth in 2022.

His lawyers contended he experienced severe PTSD after being imprisoned and tortured under Bashar al-Assad's regime, arguing incarceration would breach his human rights.

Judge Pawson dismissed these claims, describing his conduct as "chilling", and sentenced him to two years and ten months.

Andrii Starovoitov, a 33-year-old Ukrainian refugee, avoided imprisonment entirely after molesting a woman at London Bridge station, citing stress over his family's safety amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

Two Afghan teenagers, Jan Jahanzeb and Israr Niazal, both 17, received sentences of ten years eight months and nine years ten months respectively for raping a 15-year-old girl in Leamington Spa.

Niazal claimed he did not understand consent "as it does not exist in Afghanistan".

Judge Sylvia de Bertodano told the Afghan pair: "You have betrayed the interests of those like you who come here fleeing harm and seeking safety, and for that you should feel a deep and lasting sense of shame."

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp condemned the practice, stating that "illegal immigrants who rape young women should get a full prison sentence and then be deported, regardless of any asylum or human rights claim".

He added: "It is an insult to victims that these illegal immigrants are using unverifiable and potentially made-up claims about past trauma to excuse rape and reduce their prison sentences. Our justice system should have no truck with this nonsense."

Under Sentencing Council guidance, judges may reduce culpability where a clinically diagnosed mental disorder contributed to offending.

However, courts must balance psychiatric evidence against crime severity and public protection, with serious sexual offences typically carrying substantial custodial terms regardless of mental health claims.

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