Asylum seekers were free to roam the streets for a MONTH after rape

Two young Afghan asylum seekers were allowed to roam the streets even after they admitted the brutal rape of a 15-year-old girl, the Daily Mail can reveal.

Despite their horrific crime, 17-year-olds Jan Jahanzeb and Israr Niazal were not remanded in custody by a district judge sitting at Coventry youth court when they both entered guilty pleas on October 21.

Instead, they were separately remanded into the care of social services and left free to wander, with orders to stay at their accommodation between the hours of 7pm and 7am, a decision branded ‘shocking’ by Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp.

The pair, who brazenly dragged their victim into a secluded part of a public park and raped her, were not placed in youth detention until November 19 – six months after the attack – when they appeared before a more senior Crown Court judge at Warwick for sentencing.

The sentencing judge Sylvia de Bertodano, who later concluded that the boys posed such a danger to the public that they would each have faced an 18-year sentence for their crimes had they been adults, and swiftly ensured that they were transferred to youth custody.

Mr Philp said: ‘It is shocking that these dangerous Afghan criminals – who brutally raped a 15-year-old girl – were allowed to roam free for a month.

‘Women and girls are not safe under this Labour government. The system is simply not working.

A Warwickshire mother who knows the family of the victim also condemned the decision.

‘This is a case of the courts putting the rights of the offender above those of the victim,’ she said.

‘What were they thinking to allow these two dangerous individuals to wander around as they wish with only a few restrictions on their movements?

‘It’s absolutely incredible and parents in the area were stunned to hear this was the case.’

And Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said: ‘This sorry saga just gets worse and worse. These vile individuals should have been kept behind bars before their sentencing. These sick men need to be sent back to Afghanistan, never to return.’

The high-profile case also appalled Britain, especially the chilling CCTV images of the girl being dragged to her fate by the pair, and reports of the phone footage captured by the victim – played to the court – which left staff close to tears.

Even one of the boy’s own barristers warned it would lead to ‘disorder’ if ‘the general public were exposed’ to it.

In the harrowing three-minute clip, the girl could be heard crying ‘you’re going to rape me’ as she was dragged away from where she had been drinking with friends in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire.

The footage also showed her weeping, screaming ‘help’ and begging not to be taken to the park.

She was forced to perform a sex act on the boys in a secluded area, before she escaped and filmed more clips describing her ordeal. 

The girl was eventually found by a passerby who took her to a nearby police station, where officers were able to obtain vital forensic evidence.

In an impact statement, the girl said: ‘The day I was raped changed me as a person. I’m no longer a happy, carefree teenager. This was my first sexual experience.’

Both defendants – who had arrived separately in Britain illegally on small boats around a year ago – were swiftly arrested and charged with rape two days after the attack in May 2025.

Their first court appearance came on July 24 at Coventry Magistrates Court, sitting as a youth court, where they both pleaded not guilty.

On October 21, they were due to stand trial before the district judge at Coventry Youth Court, but both changed their plea to guilty on the first day of the proceedings.

Despite admitting their guilt, both boys were allowed to continue on remand in the much more pleasant – and less secure – surroundings of local authority care, rather than youth detention.

The judge made his decision despite the strict threshold for putting them behind bars having been met. 

The only conditions imposed were that the pair would be held apart and not communicate, observe the 12-hour curfew and not travel to Leamington Spa.

A court can only order a remand to youth detention when the child is over the age of 12 and legally represented and the offence is violent, sexual or terrorism or so serious it would carry a sentence of 14 years or more in the case of an adult.

Alternatively, detention is justified if the child has a recent history of absconding from remand or committing offences on remand and the public need to be protected from further offences.

Yet it was not until 29 days later when the pair made their first appearance at Warwick Crown Court for sentence that Judge de Bertodano, after hearing representations from the prosecution and defence, ordered them into custody.

When they were finally sentenced this week, Jahanzeb was jailed for 10 years and eight months, while Niazal, who is a few months younger, and was 16 at the time of the rape, was given nine years and 10 months.

The Daily Mail approached the Ministry of Justice, Warwickshire Social Services, the Crown Prosecution Service and Warwickshire Police for comment.

Earlier the Mail highlighted how Jahanzeb has posted frequently on TikTok – including even one post from the same park where the attack took place, uploaded the day after the rape.

Ahead of sentencing, Judge de Bertodano accepted a legal challenge mounted by the Daily Mail and agreed to lift a ban on naming them, which had been imposed due to their age.

She told Jahanzeb – who will turn 18 in three weeks’ time: ‘When you discussed the offence you tried to minimise your responsibility, blaming your co-defendant for getting you involved, and the victim herself for pushing you and kissing you, as well as the fact that you were drunk.

‘You say that you are inexperienced in sexual matters; your reluctance to talk about it makes the truth of this assertion difficult to assess, although I do of course understand that given your age your sexual experience is necessarily limited.’

She added: ‘You left Afghanistan after you say threats were made to you and your family, and you spent about nine months travelling to the UK.

‘You travelled through many countries, often on foot and I am sure that your journey was both difficult and dangerous. I accept that this amounts to a traumatic set of experiences for a young person. I am told that is possible that you are suffering from PTSD. ‘

Jahanzeb has already been served a deportation order, but younger Niazal managed to avoid that fate so far by pleading guilty the day before his 17th birthday.

Niazal was told by the Judge: ‘You still maintain that you believed the victim was consenting.

‘You also say that you do not understand consent as it does not exist in Afghanistan. However, you are able to discuss issues of consent in a way which demonstrates in my judgment that you do have an understanding of the concept.

‘You came to the UK from Afghanistan in November 2024, having fled due to fears of the Taliban. You had limited formal education.

‘Your father is believed to have been killed by the Taliban and your mother suffers with mental health difficulties. Your journey to the UK took nine months and was arduous and traumatic. 

‘Your childhood experiences have had a significant effect on your cognitive development.

‘I am told you are committed to building a future in the UK. Whether that happens or not is a matter for another court.’