TWO teenage Afghan nationals seeking asylum in the UK have been sentenced for the rape of a 15-year-old girl in Leamington Spa.
Jan Jahanzeb and Israr Niazal, both 17, pleaded guilty to the May 10 attack at a hearing in October.
At Warwick Crown Court, Judge Sylvia de Bertodano lifted reporting restrictions on naming the boys after applications by media organisations.
Deportation papers have been served to Jahanzeb. He was sentenced to 10 years and eight months in youth detention. Niazal was sentenced to nine years and 10 months, and the judge invited the government to recommend deportation.
Both will begin their sentences in a Young Offenders' Institution and move to prison later. They were also ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life and given an indefinite restraining order.
In an impact statement, the victim said: "The day I was raped changed me as a person. Now every time I go out I don't feel safe." She said watching family members "feeling crushed" was painful. "I hate the fact that I am now looked at as a victim, even though that's exactly what I am."
Prosecutor Shawn Williams said the defendants, who each appeared with an interpreter, were unaccompanied child asylum seekers. Jahanzeb fled Afghanistan and arrived in the UK in January, later assessed as 17. Niazal arrived in November last year, was first accommodated in Kent, then moved into local authority care in Warwickshire.
Det Ch Insp Richard Hobbs of Warwickshire Police said: "Jahanzeb and Niazal went out of their way to befriend the victim with the intention of raping her. The length of their sentence reflects the severity of their crime and the need to protect the public from them."
Judge de Bertodano said restrictions could lead to speculation and the spread of false information.
The victim’s mother said: "We have watched our vibrant, happy and confident daughter shrink down and suffer with anxiety so bad, she is often physically sick." She added "something broke in all of us that day".
