Three Asylum Seekers Who Spotted a Vulnerable Woman Walking Alone Did Something So Horrific on Brighton Beach That Judge Called It “Predatory and Callous”

Two asylum seekers who repeatedly raped a vulnerable woman on Brighton beach while a third man filmed the horrifying attack have been jailed for a combined total of more than 60 years.

Ibrahim Alshafe, 26, Abdulla Ahmadi, 26, and Karin Al-Danasurt, 21, were sentenced after a jury found them guilty over what a judge described as an “entirely predatory and callous” assault on a woman who had become separated from her friends during a night out.

The attack happened in the early hours of October 4, 2025, after the three men spotted the woman staggering through the streets of Brighton. Prosecutors said she was heavily intoxicated and incapable of giving consent.

Alshafe and Ahmadi led the woman behind a beach hut on the seafront, where they repeatedly raped her while Al-Danasurt stood nearby filming the ordeal on his phone. The court heard the woman was laughed at, spat on, kicked and had her throat grabbed during the terrifying assault.

Reading her victim impact statement in court, the woman described the lasting trauma she continues to suffer.

“They destroyed my life that night,” she said. “They took something from me nobody had the right to take. They violated me in every way.”

She told the court that every time she closes her eyes she sees the men laughing while one of them recorded the attack.

“My skin crawls. No matter how hard I scrub it, I still feel dirty,” she said, adding that the emotional scars remain with her every day.

Judge Christine Henson KC condemned the men’s actions in the strongest terms during sentencing.

She said each defendant had deliberately preyed on a woman who had become separated from her friends after what should have been an enjoyable evening.

“You each treated her with contempt, and you each played a role in degrading her in the most appalling way,” the judge said.

Egyptian national Ibrahim Alshafe and Iranian national Abdulla Ahmadi were each sentenced to 21 years in prison after being convicted of two counts of rape. Egyptian national Karin Al-Danasurt received 18 years and six months after being found guilty as a secondary party on four counts of rape for encouraging and filming the attack.

Prosecutor Hanna Llewellyn-Waters KC described the three men as “devoid of humanity” and said their behaviour towards the victim was “entirely predatory, callous and contemptuous.”

She told the court the psychological impact on the victim had been extreme.

The court heard that all three men were asylum seekers living in Home Office-approved hotel accommodation in Lower Beeding, near Horsham, West Sussex.

Ahmadi and Alshafe had met after arriving in the UK together on a small boat from France on June 19, 2025. Al-Danasurt had arrived in Britain on October 11, 2024, and was sharing a room with Alshafe at the asylum hotel.

On the evening before the attack, the three men travelled by bus from their accommodation to Brighton for a night out.

Jurors were shown a Snapchat video recorded before they left the hotel. The footage showed the three men smiling, posing together in front of a mirror and preparing for their evening in the city.

During the night they visited bars and a beachfront nightclub. Evidence presented during the trial showed Alshafe speaking to a woman through Google Translate, telling her he wanted to marry, have children and eventually obtain British citizenship.

The prosecution argued he had spent the evening unsuccessfully approaching women before turning his attention to the victim. Prosecutors described him as a predator who had been “on the prowl” with his co-defendants.

After spotting the victim alone, CCTV footage showed the woman stumbling as she walked with Alshafe and Ahmadi along the seafront before they led her towards the beach.

Following the attack, the three men returned to their asylum accommodation by bus. The court heard they later held a barbecue together while, at the same time, the victim was undergoing a medical examination after reporting the assault.

Throughout the trial, all three defendants denied the allegations while giving evidence through interpreters.

Alshafe and Ahmadi claimed the sexual activity had been consensual, telling jurors the woman had approached them, kissed them, suggested sex and willingly accompanied them onto the beach.

The jury rejected those claims after hearing the evidence and watching CCTV footage that showed the woman’s condition before the attack.

The convictions bring an end to a case that shocked Brighton and formed part of wider public discussions surrounding violence against women. The victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said the men had taken something from her that she fears she will never recover, adding that their refusal to accept responsibility had only deepened her suffering.