Afghan men 'fled UK in lorry after raping girl'

Three Afghan nationals fled the UK in the back of a lorry after allegedly raping a 17-year-old girl, a jury has heard.

Mehrab Safi, 21, Awal Ahmadzai and Salman Habibkheil, both 19, and a 16-year-old boy who cannot be named for legal reasons are on trial for a string of offences against the victim at Bristol Crown Court.

Safi, Ahmadzai and Habibkheil were arrested in Calais on 3 December 2025, three days after the alleged sexual offences took place, while the 16-year-old was arrested at a property in St Werburghs, Bristol.

"[The victim] was isolated in an unfamiliar city miles from home, in the dead of night, with a house full of men she didn't know," the prosecution said.

Warning: This story contains distressing details.

The jury heard the girl had been Christmas shopping at Cabot Circus in the centre of Bristol with a friend when they met Safi for the first time and exchanged numbers, five days before the alleged offences.

The prosecution alleged he groomed the girl on Snapchat before arranging for a taxi to take her from her home in Somerset to Bristol in the early hours of 30 November.

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She was initially dropped off in an industrial area of the city, where Safi was waiting with Habibkheil, before the trio travelled to a house in St Werburghs in another taxi.

Ed Hetherington, prosecuting, said CCTV footage showed the girl and Safi holding hands as they walked down the road.

After they arrived at the house, Hetherington said the victim was "quickly expected" to have sex with Safi, who allegedly asked her to remove her clothing six to seven times, but insisted they would not have sex.

"She didn't want to, not yet, but it happened anyway," Hetherington told the court.

"After Mr Safi had had sex with her, the other three men in the house took it in turns to get her alone in a bedroom or in a bed and to have sex with her against her wishes."

He added: "While all of this was going on, she was plied with alcohol and cigarettes to secure her compliance."

Hetherington said the offences took place "over a period of several hours" until the girl's mother contacted the police.

The girl later gave a full account to officers and said: "I just wanted to go home, I didn't feel safe, I just wanted to go home."

Hetherington said the three adult defendants fled the house as police arrived and travelled to both Birmingham and London.

Mobile phone analysis showed they searched for news items in Bristol for information about sexual activity with a teenage girl.

"At this point the three defendants are still at large giving the clearest possible indication that they are aware that they have done something very seriously wrong indeed," Hetherington told the court.

He added it was "deeply unusual" for the men to leave the UK in the back of a lorry, rather than enter.

Mobile phone footage recovered from Safi's phone showed the men in the lorry laughing and gesticulating, which Hetherington said suggested they thought they "got away with it".

When they were found by French police in Calais on 3 December, they were returned to the UK.

Hetherington said the trio had no travel documents or identification and had given false names to French authorities.

After their real names were checked on police systems, they were arrested on suspicion of rape.

Sali, of St Werburghs, denies one count of human trafficking and two charges of rape.

Habibkheil, of Lockleaze, denies one count of human trafficking and one charge of rape.

Ahmadzai, of Redcliffe, denies one charge of rape and one charge of assault by penetration.

The 16-year-old also denied one charge of rape.

The trial continues.

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