Three men have been jailed for a combined 78 years and six months after being convicted of gang-raping a woman on a Brighton beach in October 2025, in an attack a prosecutor described as “cynical, predatory and callous.” Egyptian nationals Karin Al-Danasurt, 20, and Ibrahim Alshafe, 25, along with Iranian national Abdulla Ahmadi, 26, were all staying at Home Office-approved asylum accommodation at the time of the assault, Hove Crown Court heard.
Alshafe and Ahmadi were each sentenced to 27 years in prison after being convicted of gang-raping the woman following a trial at Hove Crown Court. Al-Danasurt, who filmed the attack, was jailed for 24 years and six months after being jointly convicted on all four counts of rape as a secondary party, for what prosecutors said was his role in “encouraging the rape by his actions at the scene, including filming it.” The court heard Al-Danasurt had previously claimed to be fleeing the death penalty in Egypt when he crossed the Channel by small boat and applied for asylum, though prosecutors said they had been unable to verify his account. It was separately claimed that he is a convicted murderer in his native Egypt, though the jury was not told of this during the trial. His defence lawyer, Nick Wayne, said Al-Danasurt had “exaggerated what had taken place.”
How the attack unfolded
The court heard that all three defendants had been “on the prowl” for women throughout the evening, having filmed themselves preparing for a night out before catching a bus into Brighton in October last year. The woman had been out with friends at a bar until around 3am before moving on to a nightclub near the beach. She told police she recalled “taking drinks off this Asian man” before being sick in the toilet, adding: “After that I don’t remember anything.” Prosecutor Hanna Llewellyn-Waters told the court the woman was intoxicated at the time and “to all intents and purposes, incapacitated.”
According to the prosecution, the woman was “staggering in the street” alone when she was targeted by the three men after leaving the nightclub. “That targeting was not founded in good will or bonhomie, in high spirits – it was cynical, predatory and callous,” Llewellyn-Waters told jurors. Alshafe and Ahmadi took the woman to a location behind a beach shack, where she was raped “repeatedly.” Al-Danasurt followed the pair, and while the prosecutor said it was unclear whether he raped the woman himself, he was said to have been “fully aware of what was happening” throughout.
Disturbing footage shown to jury
Jurors were shown footage recovered from the men’s phones showing the woman lying motionless on her back with her eyes closed as Ahmadi and Alshafe raped her. One clip, found on Al-Danasurt’s phone, showed Ahmadi covering his face with his hand during the assault. The court heard the men referred to the woman using degrading language as they laughed and took turns spitting on her, leaving her bloodied and drifting in and out of consciousness. Following the attack, the defendants were seen in further footage filming themselves having a barbecue in the grounds of the asylum accommodation where they were staying.
Defendants’ claims in court
During the trial, Al-Danasurt told the jury “rape to me is sex” when questioned about consent, while Alshafe claimed he was a virgin who had been looking for a British bride. Ahmadi, of Crewe, Cheshire, and Alshafe, who lives in Horsham, West Sussex, each denied two counts of raping the woman, while Al-Danasurt, also of Horsham, pleaded not guilty to all four counts he faced. A further charge against Al-Danasurt relating to the sharing of intimate films was withdrawn after it was established the offence could only be tried in a magistrates’ court.
Timeline of arrivals in the UK
The court heard that Alshafe and Ahmadi had both arrived in the UK by small boat on 19 June 2025, roughly three months before the attack, while Al-Danasurt had entered the country on 11 October 2024. At the time of the offence, all three men were staying at Cisswood House Hotel in Horsham, accommodation approved by the Home Office for asylum seekers.
The victim’s account
In a victim impact statement, the woman described the lasting psychological toll of the attack. “I could tear my skin off and still feel dirty,” she said. “I don’t think I will ever drink again or go clubbing or go out in general. When I close my eyes, I see them laughing at me. All I can see is the seagulls. Sometimes it feels like the noises will never stop. I feel like I can’t breathe like I’m back on the beach that night. I can’t catch my breath, my skin crawls. They took something from me that night I don’t think I’ll ever get back. Like sticking the knife in and twisting it, they are not even sorry for what they did to me. I hope one day the laughing, the seagulls and my tight chest will one day stop and I can enjoy a day at the beach with my friends again.”
Giving evidence during the trial, she recalled fearing for her life during the assault. “I don’t know why they done it to me. I’m a nice person,” she told the court. “I hug everybody, I just thought ‘Why are you doing this to me’. I remember saying that ‘Why are you doing this to me’ and they were just laughing. They were violating me and recording me and laughing. I thought they were going to kill me.”
