Four men jailed for raping vulnerable teenage girl in Bristol
Four men, including three Afghan men and a 17-year-old Afghan national, have been jailed after raping a vulnerable teenage girl in Bristol and then trying to flee in a lorry.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Four men have been jailed after raping a Vulnerable teenage girl in Bristol and then trying to flee the country in the back of a lorry. The court heard that the group was made up of three Afghan men and a 17-year-old Afghan national.
Merab Safi, who was described as the man holding the camera, was sentenced to 15 years. Awol Ahmadzai and Salman Habib Kaley were given nine years. A 17-year-old who cannot be named was sentenced to three years. The judge said what they had done was unimaginable and would live with their victim forever.
Safi first met the girl when she went Christmas shopping with a friend in late November last year. In messages, he convinced her that he was her boyfriend, but his intentions were darker. He arranged for her to be brought by taxi from her home in Somerset to a flat in central Bristol. There she was plied with alcohol and repeatedly assaulted and raped over a period of hours. The men took it in turns.
In a statement read to the court, the girl said she had been traumatised and still had nightmares. She said she was relieved the men had been found guilty.
Safi, Ahmadzai and Habib Kaley fled before trying to escape in the back of a lorry. They thought they had got away with it, but were caught in France. The trial lasted two and a half weeks. The girl, described as a child, gave crucial evidence by video link. Her bravery in supporting the investigation and giving evidence was commended.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |
|---|---|
| Only on one channel | |
| Four men, including three Afghan men and a 17-year-old Afghan national, were jailed in Bristol for raping a vulnerable teenage girl, with sentences of 15 years, nine years, nine years, and three years. | |
| The men tried to flee the country in a lorry after the attack, and Safi, Ahmadzai and Habib Kaley were caught in France. | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
BBC ONE West gave the sentencing a straightforward local court report, with a reporter package from Bristol Crown Court. It stressed the attackers' ages and nationalities, the repeated rape in a Bristol flat, the attempted escape by lorry and the victim's video-link evidence. The item also carried the judge's comment and a commendation of the victim's bravery, without adding police or campaigner voices.
- “three Afghan men and a 17 year old Afghan national who took it in turns to rape a vulnerable teenage girl in Bristol before trying to flee the country in the back of a lorry have been jailed”
- “The judge said what they'd done have been unimaginable and will live with their victim forever”
- “The victim in this case has been remarkable. She is a child We have to commend her bravery for supporting the investigation for giving her evidence So eloquently at courts”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.