Two teenage Afghan asylum seekers who dragged a screaming 15-year-old schoolgirl into bushes and forced her to perform oral sex on them were yesterday jailed for a combined total of more than 20 years at Warwick Crown Court.
Jan Jahanzeb, born 12 March 2007 (now aged 17), of no fixed address but latterly living in taxpayer-funded accommodation in Warwickshire, was sentenced to 10 years and eight months’ detention in a young offender institution.
Israr Niazal, born 20 October 2007 (now aged 17), of similar taxpayer-funded accommodation in the county, received nine years and ten months’ detention after the judge allowed a reduction to reflect that he was fractionally younger at the time of the offence.
Both defendants had pleaded guilty in October to two counts of assault by penetration arising from the attack in Leamington Spa on the evening of 10 May 2025.
The sentencing hearing followed a successful application by the Daily Mail, represented by Sam Rowe, to lift statutory reporting restrictions that would otherwise have prevented the identification of the pair because they were under 18.
Her Honour Judge Sylvia de Bertodano granted the application, ruling that “the balance clearly falls in favour of the public interest and the identities of these two young men can be reported”.
Credit must go to the Daily Mail for its determined legal challenge which ensured the public now knows the names and faces of the perpetrators.
Passing sentence, the judge told the teenagers, who appeared in the dock wearing matching grey jackets with sky-blue sleeves:
The Judge here is referencing the well-documented, proven and profoundly divergent attitudes toward female autonomy, consent, and sexual violence that prevail in large parts of Afghanistan, particularly in rural Pashtun areas from which both defendants came from.
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In such regions, deeply entrenched tribal codes, compounded by decades of war and the former Taliban regime’s interpretation of Sharia, have normalised practices including forced marriage, honour-based control of women, and the treatment of sexual access to females (especially non-Muslim or “unprotected” females) as a perceived entitlement or spoil of power.
Rape within marriage is not recognised as a crime, “baad” (the giving of girls as compensation for disputes) remains commonplace, and victims of sexual assault are frequently blamed, ostracised or even killed to restore family honour.
Her Honour Judge de Bertodano explicitly acknowledged these “significant cultural differences” when passing sentence, yet immediately rejected any mitigation based upon them, emphasising that neither defendant could credibly claim ignorance of the fundamental principle of consent or the criminal wrongness of forcibly removing and sexually assaulting a child in Britain, she further went on to add:
Judge de Bertodano confirmed she would recommend to the Home Secretary that:
Jahanzeb is already subject to deportation proceedings.
Niazal escaped automatic deportation only because he entered his guilty plea one day before his 17th birthday, rendering him technically a child for the purposes of the relevant legislation.
The court heard that Jahanzeb had arrived in the United Kingdom by small boat in January 2025 after three previous failed attempts during which French authorities repeatedly destroyed his dinghy.
Both teenagers were housed in taxpayer-funded accommodation as unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
Prosecutor Shawn Williams outlined how, on the Saturday evening in question, the 15-year-old victim had been drinking vodka with friends in a Leamington park on what she described as “a nice day”.
Having become heavily intoxicated — she later rated herself “eight out of ten” drunk — she became separated from her group.
Jahanzeb began talking to her and, within minutes, led her away.
The victim managed to start a three-minute video recording on her mobile telephone which was later played to the court.
In the footage she is heard repeatedly screaming for help, shouting “let me go”, crying “you’re going to rape me” and begging passers-by for assistance.
At one point Jahanzeb placed his hand over her mouth to stifle her screams.
A female passer-by stopped and asked several times if the girl was all right, but did not intervene further despite the victim’s clear pleas.
Translated excerpts revealed Jahanzeb urging Niazal to “come quickly” before adding:
Referring to Jahanzeb’s remark caught on the victim’s phone recording,
“Oh my God, I’m a Muslim in one minute,”
This was interpreted in the context of the crime as a disturbing expression of belief: meaning that in committing the act of raping the young white British girl would affirm or elevate his status as a Muslim.
Drawing from the widespread twisted ideological and cultural perspective and belief that such sexual violence against non-Muslims women and especially underage white girls is seen as a form of conquest, religious duty and misogynistic control.
With this phrase affirming this cultural belief by Pashto, the phrase was further treated by prosecutors as evidence of fully premeditated intent, underscoring his awareness and eagerness to proceed with the offence because of its religiously motivated cultural ideology.
Separate CCTV from a nearby bridge showed the two defendants marching the girl, one on each side, across the road and into Newbold Comyn park.
There, in a secluded “bushy den-type area”, they forced her to her knees — ripping her jeans and grazing her skin — and made her perform oral sex on both of them.
After the attack she managed to escape and filmed further distressing videos of herself walking alone, sobbing: “Oh my god, I just got f****** kidnapped by these guys…I was screaming for help and no one was listening to me.”
A member of the public eventually came to her aid and took her straight to Leamington Spa police station, enabling officers to recover vital forensic evidence.
In her victim personal statement the girl, who attended court with her mother to see the sentences passed, wrote:
“The day I was raped changed me as a person. I’m no longer a happy, care-free teenager. This was my first sexual experience.
When I go out, I no longer feel safe, so much so that I have started to avoid it altogether. This has also impacted my education and school life at the worst possible time as I’m taking my GCSEs.
I hate that I’m now looked at as a victim, even though that is exactly what I am.”
During the hearing Joshua Radcliffe, defending Niazal, had opposed the press application to name his client, warning that the mobile-phone footage was:
and that public release:
Robert Holt, for Jahanzeb, went further, asking the judge to prohibit even reporting that the defendants were Afghan asylum seekers.
Both defence submissions were rejected.
Mr Williams, prosecuting, told the court: “The evidence of lack of consent is overwhelming. The facts reveal a deeply distressing and predatory sexual offence on a vulnerable and highly intoxicated 15-year-old.”
The defendants will serve two-thirds of their sentences in custody before release on licence.
They will remain on the sex offender register and subject to sexual harm prevention orders for life.
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