Afghans Who Groomed 17-Year-Old Girl With Vodka and Cigarettes Before Gang-Raping Her Then Fleeing UK in Back of a Lorry Are Found Guilty

Four Afghans who groomed a teenage girl with alcohol and cigarettes then gang-raped her have been found guilty.

Mehrab Safi, 21, Salman Habibkheil and Awal Ahmadzai, both 19, and a boy, 17, who cannot be named, attacked the 17-year-old girl at a house in Bristol in November last year.

Safi, Ahmadzai and Habibkheil left the UK in December – concealing themselves in the back of a lorry – following the incident and were later discovered by French authorities in Calais.

The rapists, along with the 17-year-old boy, denied any wrongdoing and claimed it was consensual, but were found guilty of grooming and rape at Bristol Crown Court on Friday.

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The victim was sexually assaulted and raped by the four men over several hours.

During the trial, jurors watched a video of the victim in a police interview following the attack.

The footage showed she had told Safi she did not want to have sex with him at that point, but he went on to rape her anyway.

Habibkheil then raped her before Ahmadzai and the 17-year-old boy did the same.

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The girl said she had been asleep during two of the alleged rapes and while being sexually assaulted.

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Officers arrested the teenage boy when he answered the door to the property, while the three older men fled as police arrived.

All four men will be sentenced at the same court on Tuesday, October 6.

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