The attack occurred on Brighton beach (Image: GETTY)
An asylum seeker accused of rape on Brighton beach alongside two co-defendants has told a court that he called one of the other men an “animal” and pushed him away after he spat on the woman. Iranian national Abdulla Ahmadi, 26, is on trial with Egyptian nationals Ibrahim Alshafe, 25, and Karin Al-Danasurt, 20. The three men are accused of targeting the woman in a “cynical, predatory and callous” attack.
Ahmadi and Alshafe are alleged to have repeatedly raped the woman on the beach in the East Sussex city in the early hours of October 4 last year, while Al-Danasurt filmed the incident. Giving evidence at Hove Crown Court on Friday, Ahmadi claimed that what happened on the beach was consensual. He said the woman did not show any anger until Al-Danasurt spat in her face.
Hove Crown Court (Image: Getty)
He told the court he then stopped having sex with her and pushed Al-Danasurt away.
Al-Danasurt has previously denied spitting on the woman.
Speaking through a Kurdish Sorani interpreter, Ahmadi said: “I saw that was very disgusting. I was very angry.
“I pushed him, and I swore at him and told him he was an animal, because what he did, normal people do not do that.”
He told jurors it does not matter what your nationality is — “it is not right to act like that against her” — and that Al-Danasurt’s behaviour made him leave the beach.
Afterwards, he said, Alshafe and the woman were sitting on a bench “cuddling” and “kissing” when Al-Danasurt spat on her again.
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. Read our Privacy Policy
“As soon as I saw that I pushed his hand and I pushed him back. Even though I don’t know a lot of English, I said sorry to her.”
He said that when he said goodbye to the woman, she kissed him and he repeatedly told her “sorry, sorry”.
Asked what he was sorry for, he replied: “Because of Karin’s behaviour.”
The court has heard that the woman had become separated from her friends on a night out, and prosecutors say the three defendants approached her while she was “staggering in the street” alone.
The court has also seen footage of the woman falling down while with Ahmadi and Alshafe on the seafront.
In his evidence, Ahmadi said the woman approached him, kissed and touched him, then also kissed Alshafe and spoke in English.
He told the court he heard her say the word “sex” and that she took the two of them down to the beach.
Asked what he was thinking on the walk over, he said: “We went to the seaside for sex.”
At the time of the incident, all three defendants knew each other and were living at Home Office-approved hotel accommodation for asylum seekers near Horsham, West Sussex.
Ahmadi, of Crewe in Cheshire, and Alshafe, of Lower Beeding, have each denied two counts of raping the woman.
Al-Danasurt, also of Lower Beeding, is jointly charged on all four rape counts as a secondary party “encouraging the rape by his actions at the scene, including filming it”. He has pleaded not guilty to all four charges.
He also denies a fifth count of “sharing intimate films” without the complainant’s consent. The charge relates to an allegation that Al-Danasurt sent recordings of the alleged rapes to Ahmadi’s phone via Snapchat shortly after the incident.