Three Men Found Guilty of Brighton Beach Rape in 'Predatory' Attack

Three men have been found guilty of repeatedly raping a woman on Brighton beach in a "cynical, predatory and callous" attack after she became separated from her friends on a night out.

A trial at Hove Crown Court heard the woman was targeted by the men as she was "staggering in the street" and was "incapacitated" in the early hours of 4 October. Two of the men took her behind a beach hut in the East Sussex city where they raped her and the other went to the location moments later and filmed it.

Ibrahim Alshafe, a 25-year-old Egyptian national, and Abdulla Ahmadi, a 26-year-old Iranian national, were found guilty of two counts of rape by jurors on Thursday. Another Egyptian national, Karin Al-Danasurt, 20, was also found guilty of all four counts of rape as a secondary party by encouraging and filming the ordeal.

All three men are seeking asylum. Jurors returned their verdicts in the five-week trial after more than 16 hours of deliberation. Eight security guards stood in the dock behind the defendants and their interpreters as the verdicts were given.

The defendants showed no reaction as the verdicts were delivered, though Alshafe had his head down when the judge began to speak to the jury. Judge Christine Henson KC thanked jurors for their service. "It has been a difficult case not only in the subject matter but also with various disruptions," she said.

The prosecutor Hanna Llewellyn-Waters KC had told jurors: "Frankly, to these defendants, the complainant was meat. She was repeatedly abused for their sexual gratification and entertainment.

"They wanted sex and that could be achieved by being with someone who was in no state to resist them."

She said the woman told police she recalled being spat on, kicked, and her throat being grabbed during the attack, as well as men laughing.

Giving evidence in the trial, the woman told the court: "It wasn't consensual, it was not consensual, they are evil and they have ruined my life."

At the time of the attack, the three defendants knew each other and were living at Home Office-approved hotel accommodation for asylum seekers near Horsham, West Sussex. The court heard Ahmadi and Alshafe met on a small boat from France, arriving in the UK on 19 June 2025, while Alshafe and Al-Danasurt were roommates at the hotel. Al-Danasurt arrived in the UK on 21 September 2024.

Jurors heard Alshafe's asylum application had been refused on 3 October, but he told the court he did not know about the update to his case before going to Brighton that night.

Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html