Four Afghan men, aged between 17 and 21, were sentenced to a total of 36 years in prison for gang-raping a 17-year-old girl in Bristol. The perpetrators fled the UK by hiding in a lorry bound for France, where they filmed themselves laughing and taunting the camera before being apprehended by French authorities. During their trial at Bristol Crown Court, it was revealed that Mehrab Safi, Salman Habibkheil, Awal Ahmadzai, and an unnamed minor were convicted of offenses including rape and human trafficking. The judge described the attack as leaving the victim "broken beyond resistance."
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-07,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
A group of Afghans who gang-raped a teenage girl and left her 'broken beyond resistance' were caught laughing at their heinous crimes while attempting to flee the UK in the back of a lorry.
asserted
who → rap → lorry
Mehrab Safi, 21, Salman Habibkheil and Awal Ahmadzai, both 19, and a boy, 17, who cannot be named, were jailed for a total of 36 years after they groomed and attacked the 17-year-old girl at a house in Bristol in November last year.
asserted
they → name → November
Safi along with Habibkheil arranged a taxi from her home to meet them in the city where she had been plied with vodka and cigarettes before the attack, a court heard.
asserted
court → arrange → attack
Safi, Ahmadzai and Habibkheil then fled the UK in December – filming themselves 'celebrating' their escape in the back of a lorry.
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themselves → flee → lorry
The shocking footage shows one of the hooded men taunting the camera and waving his middle fingers, while they all laugh and one sways his body as he lies on the packaged products in the vehicle.
asserted
he → show → vehicle
They were later discovered by French authorities in Calais.
asserted
They → discover → Calais
After being returned to the UK, the men were convicted of offences including rape following a trial at Bristol Crown Court earlier this year.
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men → return → Court
The judge said at the gang's sentencing yesterday that being raped by multiple men, one after another, left the victim 'broken beyond resistance'.
asserted
raped → say → resistance
A group of Afghans who groomed and gang-raped a teenage girl were caught laughing at their heinous crimes while attempting to flee the UK in the back of a lorry
The month after the attack, Safi, Ahmadzai and Habibkheil filmed themselves 'celebrating' their escape
Shocking footage shows one of the hooded men taunting the camera and holding up his middle fingers, while they all laugh
Judge Michael Cullum jailed Safi, who was convicted of two counts of rape and one of human trafficking, for 15 years.
Habibkheil was sentenced to nine years in detention for one count of rape and one of human trafficking, while Ahmadzai was sentenced to nine years in detention for one count of rape and one of sexual assault.
The 17-year-old defendant, who cannot be identified because of his age, was sentenced to three years in detention for one count of rape.
asserted
who → groom → rape
The victim met Safi when she went Christmas shopping with a friend in Bristol city centre.
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she → meet → centre
Passing sentence, the judge said: 'She clearly didn't know Bristol well and seemed keen to drink alcohol, potentially with people unknown to her.
'She would have looked vulnerable from the beginning and I have no doubt that that was her attraction, in part, to you Safi.'
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that → pass → you
Safi tried to lure both girls to his property by offering drugs and a place to charge their phones, but they declined and went home instead.
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they → try → phones
He and the victim nonetheless exchanged social media details and Safi initiated an 'intense exchange' of messages on Snapchat, where he asked her for nude photos.
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he → exchange → photos
Just four days later on November 30, the girl's mother went out for the evening and Safi suggested she should travel to Bristol.
uncertain
she → go → Bristol
Safi, along with Habibkheil, arranged a taxi to collect her from her home in Somerset and bring her to the city.
asserted
Safi → arrange → city
She was then taken to Safi's house, where the men gave her enough alcohol to make her drunk so that each of them could rape her.
uncertain
each → take → her
She told a court how she 'wanted to go home', but had been plied with vodka and cigarettes before the attack.
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she → tell → attack
The victim was sexually assaulted and raped by the four men over several hours.
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victim → assault → hours
'Having been trafficked for the purpose of committing a sexual offence, she was raped five times and was subjected to a penetrative sexual assault by Ahmadzai,' the judge said.
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judge → traffic → Ahmadzai
'The cumulative trauma of these offences will undoubtedly live with her forever and is unimaginable.'
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trauma → live → her
He continued: 'The victim was obviously vulnerable and that's why you all preyed on her.'
Awal Ahmadzai, 19, is one of four Afghans who attacked a 17-year-old girl at a house in Bristol.
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who → continue → Bristol
He was on Tuesday sentenced to nine years in detention for one count of rape and one of sexual assault
Salman Habibkheil, 19, was sentenced to nine years in detention for one count of rape and one of human trafficking
Mehrab Safi, 21, who was convicted of two counts of rape and one of human trafficking, has been jailed for 15 years
The judge said the girl had been provided with alcohol and cigarettes, which had the effect of 'grooming her and trapping her, though not physically'.
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which → sentence → her
She was 'plied with drink until very significantly affected', with the defendants getting her drunk to increase her vulnerability and the prospect she 'would not or could not resist', he added.
uncertain
he → ply → vulnerability
During the trial, jurors watched a video of the victim in a police interview following the attack.
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jurors → watch → 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.
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he → show → her
Habibkheil then raped her before Ahmadzai and the 17-year-old boy did the same.
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Ahmadzai → rap → same
She told police: 'I just wanted to go home.
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I → tell → police
I didn't feel safe.
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I → feel → ?
I just wanted to go home.
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I → want → ?
I didn't like it.
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I → like → it
I just wanted to be at home.'
asserted
I → want → home
The girl said she had been asleep during two of the alleged rapes and while being sexually assaulted.
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she → say → rapes
Jurors heard how the girl's mother raised the alarm when she was not at home, with police tracing her to a house in the St Werburghs area of Bristol.
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police → hear → Bristol
Officers arrested the teenage boy when he answered the door to the property, while the three older men fled as police arrived.
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police → arrest → property
Addressing the defendants, the judge described how they had suffered trauma but this did not excuse what they had caused to the victim in the case.
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they → address → case
'Each of the four reports gives some details as to the exact causes of the trauma that you each have suffered in relation to fleeing Afghanistan and travelling to the UK,' he said.
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he → give → UK
'I'm not going to repeat the detail in these sentencing remarks but I do take it into account.'
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I → go → account
Edd Hetherington, prosecuting, read a victim personal statement from the girl and summarised a statement made by her mother.
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Hetherington → prosecute → mother
The girl described how she was 'a different person' following the attacks, and had stopped going out by herself.
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she → describe → herself
'Generally, my brain keeps blocking out the trauma that happened to me but when I am feeling low emotionally it all comes back and makes me feel even worse,' she said.
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she → keep → me
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
