Snaresbrook Crown Court: Two men convicted after knife-point attack in Barking Park on Aug 16 last year.
Snaresbrook Crown Court: Two Men Convicted After Knife-Point Rape in Barking Park
Two men have been convicted of a terrifying knife-point rape in East London after attacking a woman as she stargazed in a park on a first date.
Afghan nationals Khan Agah, 19 and Noorullah Ahmdzai, 26, were found guilty at Snaresbrook Crown Court of what the prosecution called a predatory attack on two strangers.
The Attack: August 16, Last Year
The court heard the victim had agreed to meet her date after they began messaging on a dating app two weeks before.
On the evening of August 16 last year, the pair went to Barking Park, East London. As she lay in his arms under the stars, listening to guitar and stargazing, they were ambushed.
Ahmdzai raped her while Agah held a Swiss Army-type knife to her companion’s throat and threatened to kill him if he called police, before the pair switched roles.
Prosecutor Nutan Fatania told the jury:
“This was a terrifying knife-point rape at the hands of these two defendants on two strangers. The complainants had met for the first time that day and they were laying down on each other with a guitar, star gazing, when these two men approached them and overpowered them. They viewed the woman they came across as an object they could use and abuse.”
The court heard: “She was not a human being to them, she was an object they were entitled to violate, but she was not an object, she was real human being subjected to a harrowing attack.”
Following the attack, both men tried to claim the woman was a sex worker. Their lies meant the victim broke down and was forced to take a break while giving evidence.
The Convictions
Agah and Ahmdzai were convicted of two counts of rape, two charges of threatening with a knife, as well as one offence of assault by penetration and one of false imprisonment.
Both will be sentenced in October. The judge remanded them in custody.
Detective Constable Megan Lelliott, who led the investigation, said: “This was a horrific ordeal for the victim who has been exceptionally brave in not only reporting what happened to her, but also reliving the whole experience during the trial. Her courage means two dangerous men will be held accountable.”
Small Boat Arrival and Home Office Hotel
The court heard details of how the defendants came to the UK.
Ahmdzai came to Britain on a small boat in August 2023 and was housed in a hotel in London by the Home Office at the taxpayer’s expense, before being moved to Liverpool.
While in Liverpool his claim for asylum was rejected and he began working at a building site to pay for an appeal and returned to London.
Police told the court Agah also came to the UK illegally but how he arrived remains unclear.
The case comes amid growing scrutiny of asylum hotels in London and the North West, and is expected to be raised again at sentencing in October at Snaresbrook.
