Revealed: Small boat rapists' luxury lair. All on the taxpayer, naturally. Harrods chairman's mansion was home to failed asylum seekers who gang raped woman on Brighton beach

Published: 00:58, 2 May 2026 | Updated: 00:58, 2 May 2026 Early evening and three young men leave their country hotel in high spirits. All dressed up, they are off for a big night out in nearby Brighton. Once there, having pooled their cash, they visit not one but two nightclubs, knocking back drinks and dancing until dawn. Throughout, their focus is on one thing and one thing only – women. When their chat up lines fail – 'I love you, I want a kiss' – they pester, grab and grope until, at 5.45am, they end up on the beach with a woman in her 30s. Hours later the trio are back at their hotel, where they play music and laugh as they enjoy a barbecue in its extensive grounds. At first glance, it might seem like a typically tawdry lads' night out. But, in fact, it was nothing of the sort. For starters, the 'lads' – Ibrahim Alshafe, Abdulla Ahmadi and Karin Al-Danasurt – were only here because of Britain's broken immigration system. Ahmadi was born in Iran, the other two in Egypt. Having paid people smugglers to cross the Channel in small boats, each had claimed asylum on arrival. The Cisswood House Hotel (pictured) was once a byword for understated refinement And so, like the tens of thousands of others who have come to this country in a similar way, they were duly put up in a hotel courtesy of the British taxpayer. Theirs was particularly well appointed. Located in the sought-after West Sussex village of Lower Beeding, the Cisswood House Hotel was once a byword for understated refinement. Known locally as 'Harrods in the country', it was built in 1928 as a rural retreat for a chairman of the famous department store and his wife. Later converted into a luxury hotel, it boasted four-poster beds, a swimming pool, spa, health club and civil marriage licence. But from 2023 it had been used as Home Office-approved accommodation for asylum seekers – something, as we shall see, that had long worried villagers. By the time of their night out last October the three men had each had their claims for asylum rejected by the Home Office. And yet they were still free to do as they pleased, still receiving weekly cash payments from the Government and still spending nights away from the accommodation with impunity. Which is all the more extraordinary given the fact that 20-year-old Al-Danasurt had reportedly been convicted of murder in Egypt as a teenager. That we know any of these details is solely because of what happened during the trio's outing to Brighton – and the bravery of one woman who had the misfortune to cross paths with them. Heavily intoxicated, she was spotted by the 'prowling' 25-year-old Alshafe and Ahmadi, 26. The pair shepherded her on to the beach and then proceeded to gang rape her, treating her like a piece of 'meat'. Brighton beach gang rape suspects get ready before going out: Pictured are Karin Al-Danasurt (seated), Ibrahim Alshafe (holding the camera) and Abdulla Ahmadi  Al-Danasurt videoed them, forcing the woman's mouth open to spit in it and encouraging the others to do the same while she was slapped and called a 'dirty bitch'. Left on the beach, the woman contacted police and the men were arrested and charged with rape. Last week, they were all found guilty following a trial at Hove Crown Court, at which point Al-Danasurt's criminal past could be revealed for the first time. The details of their case provoked amazement and outrage in equal part. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: 'Scumbags like this murderer and rapist – who is also an illegal immigrant – should not be put up in cushy hotels at taxpayers' expense.' Strong words but ones that echo the concerns of those living near to the hotel where the trio had been lodging. Before the rape, a number of villagers had complained about the residents, thought to number about 160, trespassing, littering and causing late-night noise. Having initially been assured the hotel would only house families, it became apparent that single men were living there too. Eyebrows were also raised at the lack of security at the hotel and the fact that those staying there seemed to hardly be on the breadline. Asylum seekers living in fully catered accommodation receive a £9 weekly living allowance, paid on to a debit card, but Ocado and Amazon vans were regularly seen delivering to the hotel, while at Christmas residents were seen returning laden with designer shopping bags. Karin Al-Danasurt, 20, (pictured) videoed the rape, forcing the woman's mouth open to spit in it. He has been found guilty of rape  But the neighbours' complaints fell on deaf ears – until, now, it seems. The Daily Mail can reveal that last Friday – the day after the guilty verdicts were returned – buses turned up at the hotel and removed the last of the residents. It is now empty. Of the closure, a Home Office spokesman said: 'The Government is removing the incentives drawing illegal migrants to Britain, including closing every single asylum hotel. 'Illegal migrants are being moved into basic accommodation as the Government scales up the use of military barracks.' While the move has been welcomed by those living nearby, they find it telling that action was taken apparently only after the publicity over the rape case. Becky Illes and her husband Nick live in a detached house behind the hotel, with which they share a drive. Five days before the rape their daughters were returning by bus after an evening out when the same three men boarded. They subjected the two women, aged 25 and 29, to a barrage of 'lewd, suggestive and derogatory' remarks. 'My youngest was due to get off at Cisswood but was so worried that she stayed on the bus a couple of stops and then, when she got off, she called her brother and asked for a lift as she was so scared of the men,' Mrs Illes, who runs a nearby pub, told the Daily Mail. 'When we read the coverage [of the rape] in the papers and saw photos of the men my daughter was 100 per cent certain it was the same three.' She added: 'It was a really worrying incident. In the past we've had all sorts of people wandering up to our house. Ibrahim Alshafe, 26, (pictured) left school at 14 and served in the Army for three years. He has been found guilty of rape  'We've got a window smashed in our conservatory, stuff stolen from our car and all sorts.' Mrs Illes said she often had post and parcels addressed to the migrants left at her house including packages of high-end designer clothing and what appeared to be benefit letters. Lewis Hayward, 36, who lives with his wife and two young children opposite the hotel said the news that one of the men had a murder conviction was 'unsettling'. 'While they were there they didn't have to sign in or out and the security guard didn't bat an eyelid,' the 36-year-old said. 'I'm really pleased that it is no longer a problem.' While residents in these facilities are free to come and go as they please, they are required to stay overnight at the hotel and if they do not return, generally by 10pm, hostel staff are supposed to make what are known as 'welfare' calls to them, with fines for repeated infringements. Clifford Cooke also lives opposite the hotel with his wife Pauline. 'I'm relieved they're gone to be honest,' the 74-year-old said. 'Some of the single men at the hotel looked pretty unsavoury. 'They seemed to have cars – or some of them did, though I'm sure they're not meant to have cars. I'm not sure how they got the money but they all had mobile phones and stuff.' And he added: 'There was a lot of anti-social behaviour. I'm not against them being in the UK but this wasn't the right place.' The day after the attack Abdulla Ahmadi, 26, (pictured) absconded from the hotel and travelled 200 miles to Crewe, Cheshire, where he was later arrested. He has been found guilty of rape The journeys that brought the three rapists to Britain were very different – but ended in a way that is depressingly familiar. Born and raised in Egypt, Alshafe left school at 14 and served in the Army for three years. Unable to then find work he decided to leave Egypt and join his older brother in Italy. In other words, he was an economic migrant. He arrived there in May 2025 but rather than claim asylum in Italy, travelled to northern France. There he paid £1,100 for a place on a boat to Dover, arriving on June 19 last year, one of 2,000 arrivals in that week alone. It was on the boat that he met Ahmadi. He had been born in Iran into a Kurdish community and claimed that after his father died when he was 13, he worked as a farm hand. He said he had to flee abroad after becoming involved with a separatist political party banned by the Iranian state. On arrival, both men were detained by the UK Border Force, and sent to Cisswood, where Al-Danasurt was already staying. Despite his mature appearance, Al-Danasurt claimed to have been born in 2005 in Egypt. He told UK police he left his homeland in June 2022, arriving here in October 2024. It is thought the name he gave may be false. Extensive attempts by the Daily Mail to find any trace of his past life in Egypt have drawn a complete blank. Foreign criminals are not routinely allowed to settle in the UK and by giving a false name he may have hoped to disguise something in his past – a murder conviction, for example. At a pre-trial hearing in Brighton, the prosecutor said that documentation he had in front of him indicated Al-Danasurt had escaped Egypt to avoid a lengthy prison sentence for murder for which he had already been convicted. Nick Wayne, his barrister, said there was some question whether the conviction applied to Al-Danasurt or his older brother. But the prosecutor said the information they had was gleaned from documentation obtained when police arrested Al-Danasurt at Cisswood House Hotel after the rape and that Al-Danasurt was sentenced in his absence after he failed to surrender. While further clarification to verify Al-Danasurt's background is expected by the time the trio are sentenced in July, what we do know is the sequence of events that led to the men's arrest and conviction. On October 3 last year, Al-Danasurt suggested a trip to Brighton. Ahmadi was short of money but Al-Danasurt offered to lend him some. Having travelled to Brighton by bus they entered the Revolution club. Their 'predatory' behaviour was evident from the start with Ahmadi caught on CCTV putting his arm around a woman's waist, only for her to prise it off. At about 3am they moved on to a second club, Horizon, located on the seafront. Footage showed Alshafe 'speaking' to a blonde woman. The pair communicated via the Google Translate app, with Alshafe telling the woman he wanted to be her friend and to dance with her. But the jury heard she replied: 'I don't believe you just want to be friends because you are touching my breasts.' Alshafe continued to badger her, saying: 'I love you. I want to give you a kiss and you don't want to. I want to spend a happy night with you.' At 5am the club closed and the three men exited, as did another woman who was 'paralytic' drunk and had become separated from her friend. Walking into the street she bumped in to Ahmadi and Alshafe. Hanna Llewellyn-Waters, prosecuting, said what happened next was 'cynical, predatory and callous'. Seeing the 'stumbling' woman was 'visibly intoxicated' they led her on to the seafront and around the back of a beach shack. There they took it in turns to rape her and force her to perform sex acts on them. When Al-Danasurt arrived on the scene he started to film the attack. 'They all spat on me and they were laughing while they were spitting on me and when I asked them to stop they wouldn't stop,' the woman tearfully told the jury. 'Every time I close my eyes I can see them laughing at me. Every night it bothers me. They thought it was funny. 'It wasn't consensual at all. They have ruined my life. They have literally ruined my whole life.'  DNA evidence taken from her matched Ahmadi and Alshafe. The day after the attack Ahmadi absconded from the hotel and travelled 200 miles to Crewe, Cheshire, where he was later arrested. Three short phone clips of the attack were found on all the defendants' phones, showing the footage had been shared. Alshafe and Ahmadi claimed during the trial that the encounter had been consensual, while Al-Danasurt shamelessly claimed he had tried to stop the attack by filming it. Alshafe and Ahmadi were both found guilty of two counts of rape. Al-Danasurt was found guilty of all four counts of rape as a secondary party by encouraging and filming the ordeal. All three are now deemed foreign national offenders, meaning they can be considered for deportation. It is thought all three have lodged appeals against their failed asylum pleas. Last night Border Security and Asylum Minister Alex Norris told the Daily Mail: 'My thoughts are first and foremost with the victim of this appalling crime, and with all those who have been affected by it. I share the public's outrage in their horrendous actions. 'The perpetrators have now been rightly convicted, and justice has been delivered by the courts. 'Once sentencing has taken place, we will move to deport them off British soil.' Meaning that the rest of the British public will, at least, be safe from them. But far too late for their victim.  Additional reporting Jaya Narain No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. 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