A Syrian man who brutally raped and then robbed a 43-year-old male British tourist in an amusement park has been jailed for 10 years.
The victim had left a nightclub in Vienna’s iconic Prater amusement park area in the Austrian capital, and was walking back to his hotel when he was set upon by the 22-year-old Syrian national last July.
Giving evidence by video-link from the UK on Thursday, the victim told the Vienna Regional Court how his attacker had raped him before fleeing with his phone and backpack.
After the attack, close to the park’s ferris wheel, the victim reported the rape to the police, local media reported.
The accused, named only as A. in court, at first denied ever meeting the victim until forensic evidence found the British man’s DNA in his mouth.
At first, A. claimed the sex had been consensual, but he then said the DNA had got there when they both swigged from the same bottle of vodka, and declared that he would not have dared rape him.
But Judge Eva Brantdstetter told him: ‘You initially denied everything, and we dismiss your current responsibility as an implausible defence.’
As well as being jailed A. was ordered to pay his victim’s £1,483.50 therapy bills.
The defendant has appealed the sentence, which is not yet legally binding.
It comes after three British tourists were arrested in Croatia this week on suspicion of raping a 28-year-old local woman in a beach-side hotel.
Police fear that the men, who are facing up to ten years behind bars, planned the attack in the port town of Split.
The alleged crime was reported shortly after 7am on Thursday, with one suspect detained at the scene, while the two others were found at a different location shortly after.
The attack reportedly took place between 5am and 7am at the seaside hotel.
Local media reported that the victim managed to free herself and alert a friend.
A criminal investigation has now been launched, with cops believing that the trio could have planned out the alleged rape after interrogating them.
The men could spend between six months and 10 years in prison under Croatian laws.
They are being held in custody for at least one month as investigations continue.
Local media reported that the two of the men are originally from Kosovo.
The Foreign Office told MailOnline it ‘had not been approached for assistance on this case.’
