Sudanese immigrant on trial accused of raping British student
A Sudanese immigrant accused of raping a British student had fled his home country months before the incident, a court has heard.
Samir Muhammad, now 21, is on trial for raping a young woman he had met at a nightclub in Bournemouth, Dorset, in the early hours of Dec 5, 2021.
It is alleged that he dragged the first-year university student out of the Cameo nightclub and took her back to his flat after she had bought one drink from the bar and felt “out of it”.
Jurors at Bournemouth Crown Court were told that Muhammad forced the woman to undress before pinning her down on his bed and raping her despite her pleas to stop.
Afterwards, he is said to have refused to let his victim leave and stopped her from answering calls from concerned friends.
Unsafe to remain in Sudan, court told
The court was informed that Muhammad arrived in the UK from Sudan aged 16 or 17, in early 2021. The jury heard that there had been a lot of trouble in Sudan and it was not safe for him to remain there.
His full immigration status, including how he arrived in the UK and whether he is claiming asylum, has not been revealed.
It is alleged that Muhammad took his victim’s phone as her friends tried to use Snapchat location to find her after she disappeared on a night out. To put them off, he messaged them pretending to be the girl and said “Yeah I’m sleep with my B ok,” the court heard.
Believing that the defendant had grabbed her phone as she would not use that language, they replied at 5:38 am saying: “Turn location on right now on Snap, we’re coming to get you.”
The girl persuaded Muhammad, then aged 17, to let her leave his flat at 5:50 am as her friends were on their way, the jury was told. She ran out of the building and found her friends, the court heard.
Sex was consensual, claims Muhammad
Muhammad, whose first language is Zaghawa, denied two counts of rape and told the court on Thursday that the woman asked to come back to the flat to charge her phone before she removed her clothes and climbed on top of him.
He alleged that they had consensual sex twice and they were both “happy”.
He told the jury: “I said can I get your number and she said my phone is dead, can I come with you to charge my phone? I said it was not my flat and I will ask my friend. He said okay.
“She took her clothes off, she was hugging me. I’m happy, she was happy as well. I didn’t force her. After, I was tired, she said, ‘Are you sure you’re tired?’ and we started sex again.”
When asked whether he had prevented her from leaving or from using her phone, he said no.
Muhammad said: “I told her two or three times to stay. She insisted she wanted to go. I did ask her to stay because it was dark, I just wanted [her] to be safe, I said stay until the morning.
“I said I would walk with her to meet her friend. She said, ‘You can go now’. She gave my hand a kiss and said see you later. Afterwards, I sent her a message on Snapchat, I said, ‘Have you met your friends?’”
The trial continues.
Politics Editor
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