Three Asylum Seekers Convicted of Repeatedly Raping Incapacitated Woman on Brighton Beach

The Attack and Convictions

• Incident Details: In the early hours of October 4, 2025, the victim became separated from her friends during a night out in Brighton. She was targeted along the seafront while in an incapacitated state and unable to consent or resist.
• The Crime: Two men led her behind a beach hut and subjected her to repeated sexual assaults, while the third joined moments later to encourage the attack and record it on a mobile phone.
• The Verdicts: Following a five-week trial and over 16 hours of jury deliberations, all three defendants were convicted:
  • Ibrahim Alshafe (25, Egyptian national): Found guilty of two counts of rape. Court evidence showed him smiling, sticking his tongue out, and slapping the victim during the assault.
  • Abdulla Ahmadi (26, Iranian national): Found guilty of two counts of rape.
  • Karin Al-Danasurt (20, Egyptian national): Found guilty of all four counts of rape as a secondary party for filming, encouraging, and laughing during the ordeal.

    

Victim Testimony and Prosecution Case

• Prosecution Argument: Prosecutor Hanna Llewellyn-Waters KC described the assault as “cynical, predatory and callous,” arguing the men viewed the victim as “meat” and deliberately preyed on someone who could not resist after being rejected by several women earlier that evening at local venues.
• Victim Impact: Testifying from behind a screen, the victim wept as she stated: “It wasn’t consensual, it was not consensual, they are evil and they have ruined my life,” adding that she remains haunted by the image of the filmer laughing at her.
• Defendants’ Claims Rejected: Alshafe and Ahmadi claimed the interaction was entirely consensual, while Al-Danasurt falsely claimed he was filming to stop the attack.

  

Asylum Status and Government Response

• Residency Status: At the time of the offense, all three defendants were housed at a Home Office-approved asylum hotel near Horsham, West Sussex. All three were appealing previously rejected asylum claims.
  • Ahmadi and Alshafe arrived in the UK via small boat crossings in June 2025.
  • Al-Danasurt entered the UK in September 2024.
• Post-Attack Actions & Arrests: Following the assault, the men returned to the hotel by bus and held a barbecue. Ahmadi absconded to Crewe, Cheshire, where he was arrested on October 12, 2025; Alshafe and Al-Danasurt were arrested at their accommodation the following day.
• Deportation Order: Following the verdicts, Border Security and Asylum Minister Alex Norris confirmed that the UK government will seek immediate deportation for all three individuals upon completion of their custodial sentences. Sentencing is scheduled for July 15, 2026.