Skip to content
Bramble

Crime

Three Afghan men and a boy sentenced in Bristol for rape of teenage girl

Three Afghan men and a 17-year-old Afghan boy were sentenced at Bristol Crown Court for raping a 17-year-old girl in November 2025. The three men fled the UK in a lorry but were stopped by French police in Calais.

4 outlets · 1L · 1C · 2R First reported Account updated
Image: GB News
Image: BBC News
Image: The Guardian
Image: Daily Express

1 / 4

The story, neutrally told

Mixed · 2Three Afghan men were sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on 6 October 2026 for raping a 17-year-old girl at a house in the St Werburghs area of Bristol in November 2025; a 17-year-old Afghan boy who cannot be named was also sentenced. Right · 2Mehrab Safi, 21, was jailed for 15 years after being convicted of two counts of rape and one of human trafficking. Right · 2Salman Habibkheil, 19, received nine years' detention for rape and human trafficking, and Awal Ahmadzai, 19, nine years for rape and a further sexual offence (assault by penetration, according to GB News).

Mixed · 2The 17-year-old boy, convicted of one count of rape, was sentenced to three years' detention according to GB News and the Daily Express (GB News adds minus 104 days already spent in custody), while the BBC reports two years and seven months in a youth detention centre. Centre · 1The BBC reports that all four were placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely and given sexual harm prevention orders barring contact with children. Mixed · 2The girl, from Somerset, first met Safi on a Christmas shopping trip to Bristol with a friend on 25 November 2025; he groomed her on Snapchat, asked for nude photos, and arranged a taxi to bring her to his house in the early hours of 30 November.

Mixed · 2Avon and Somerset Police said she was plied with alcohol and raped and sexually assaulted over several hours by the three men and the boy; GB News reports she was given cigarettes and vodka. Mixed · 2Police traced her after her mother reported her missing and arrested the boy at the house; the three men fled to Birmingham and London and then left in the back of a lorry. Mixed · 2French police found them in Calais and returned them to the UK, where they were arrested on suspicion of rape.

Mixed · 2Phone footage from Safi's phone showed the men laughing and gesticulating in the lorry, which the prosecution said suggested they thought they had "got away with it". Mixed · 2GB News reports the defendants denied the charges, claiming consent, and a jury convicted them after two days of deliberations; the BBC says the verdicts came on 26 June. Mixed · 2Judge Michael Cullum said the girl was raped five times after being trafficked and that the cumulative trauma was "unimaginable"; he acknowledged the defendants' traumatic experiences in Afghanistan, including one losing a parent to the Taliban, but said this was no excuse.

Mixed · 2In a victim impact statement the girl said she had stopped going out and only leaves the house with her best friend or her mother. Right · 1Police and prosecutors described the defendants as dangerous: Det Ch Insp Matt Cable said they posed a significant threat to young women and girls, and the CPS's Sally Helliwell said it was clear the girl did not consent.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.

Left1 outlet

No left outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.

Centre1 outlet

Framing
Leads with the escape attempt and capture by French police, then gives a detailed account of grooming, the trial, the judge's remarks and police comment.
Emphasis
Victim's statement, judge's acknowledgement of the defendants' backgrounds in Afghanistan, sex offender register and prevention orders.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not quote the CPS or the senior police officer's description of the defendants as dangerous.
For example
“Three men tried to flee the UK in a lorry after their crimes, but were stopped by French police.” — BBC News

Right2 outlets

Framing
Stresses the defendants' nationality and the flight from Britain; GB News highlights them 'celebrating' and smiling in court, the Express the hours-long attack.
Emphasis
Nationality in headlines, the defendants' behaviour, the prosecution's and CPS's condemnation ('cowardly'), the victim's trauma.
Leaves out or plays down
Neither mentions the judge's acknowledgement of the defendants' experiences in Afghanistan or the sex offender register orders.
Charged language
“celebrating”“cowardly”
For example
“Some of the defendants were seen smiling and waving at friends sitting in the public gallery for the sentencing.” — GB News
“The young girl was plied with alcohol before the hours-long ordeal.” — Daily Express