Moustafa Elbohy denies two counts of rape at Southwark Crown Court. Prosecutors say the alleged attack happened near a homeless encampment beneath a bridge in central London.
A man used Google Translate to tell a woman he wanted to have sex with her during an alleged rape near a homeless encampment in central London, a jury has heard. Moustafa Elbohy denies two counts of raping the woman in September 2025. Prosecutor Richard Milne told Southwark Crown Court on Monday that she was travelling home alone from an evening out when she approached a group of men speaking Arabic at Embankment station. The woman cannot be identified because she is the alleged victim of a sexual offence.
The alleged encounter at Embankment
Mr Milne said the woman, a married mother, had left a central London wine bar and was walking through Embankment Underground station at about 11.30pm on her way to catch a Thameslink train from Blackfriars. She was using Google Maps to find her way. The jury heard she was more than twice the drink-drive limit for alcohol. She recalled being “definitely drunk”, but “with it” enough to navigate.
She became aware of a group of men speaking Arabic and approached them. She did not speak or understand the language, the court heard. She was interested in it, Mr Milne said, because there is “a lovely Middle Eastern community” where she lives. It is not disputed that she spoke to Mr Elbohy, as his DNA was later found on her. “She accepts she started speaking to him, she didn’t feel threatened in any way by this man, the defendant,” Mr Milne said.
“Dark and dingy”
The prosecution’s case is that Mr Elbohy then grabbed her wrist and pulled her out of the station towards the river. She told him she needed to get home to her husband and children, Mr Milne said, and it was at this point that she began to feel scared.
She recalled being taken a short distance to a place she described as “dark and dingy”. Mr Milne said it appeared to be beneath Hungerford Bridge, where there was an encampment with tarpaulin stretched overhead. She remembered a wall that she said she was dragged over, tents made of blue, crinkly material and homeless people living there, one of whom looked very unwell on the ground. She accepts her memory of this part is “sketchy”, the court heard, and said she feared for her life.
“Play nice”
Mr Milne told jurors that at one point Mr Elbohy took out his phone and used Google Translate to tell the woman he wanted to have sex with her, using a crude phrase. He said the jury might find this important, and also what happened next. The woman was so frightened of what might happen, including that he might hurt her if she screamed, that she decided to “play nice”, which was her own expression. She described a very angry man whom she was trying to calm, and called him “extremely volatile”.
The prosecutor said she believed she was going to be raped and wanted it to be over as quickly as possible. She dealt with it by putting “her mind in another place” and has said she was pushed to the ground. Mr Milne said Mr Elbohy was aggressive and shouted at her, and that she felt disgusted by what he had done.
Report to police
The woman tried to leave but could not get back over the low wall and had to ask Mr Elbohy for help, the court heard. As she returned to the station, she began to understand “more vividly” that she had been raped, Mr Milne said.
At 12.30am she phoned a friend who was in London. He called back minutes later and found her within 15 minutes, sitting on the floor. She told him she did not want to go to the police because, as she put it, she knew what the narrative would be. Mr Milne said she knew how victims of rape were perceived in the media, and was worried that people would say she had been drinking, was drunk and had not screamed.
Her friend took her to Charing Cross Police Station, where she reported a rape at 1.15am. She told officers she had not consented to sex and that he was not wearing a condom.
Mr Elbohy denies both counts. The trial continues.
