Teenage girl was given cigarettes and vodka before being gang raped by four Afghan nationals who then fled UK in back of a lorry to France, court hears

By FRANCINE WOLFISZ, NEWS REPORTER Published: 17:33, 10 June 2026 | Updated: 17:33, 10 June 2026 A teenage girl has told a court how she 'wanted to go home' as she was plied with alcohol and cigarettes before being raped by four Afghan nationals, including a 16-year-old boy. Mehrab Safi, 21, Awal Ahmadzai and Salman Habibkheil, both 19, and a 16-year-old boy are accused of attacking the 17-year-old girl at a house in Bristol in November last year. Bristol Crown Court heard that Safi, Ahmadzai and Habibkheil left the UK on December 3 – concealing themselves in the back of a lorry – following the incident and were later discovered by French authorities in Calais.  The men, along with the 16-year-old boy, deny any wrongdoing. Bristol Crown Court heard how on November 25, several days before the attack, the girl had been Christmas shopping with a friend in the city's Cabot Circus shopping centre when they began talking to Safi. She gave him her mobile phone number and later added him on social media platform Snapchat, with Safi requesting nude photographs of her on November 28.  Two days later, in the early hours of November 30, he arranged for a taxi to pick her up from her home in Somerset and take her to an industrial estate in Bristol. She was met by Safi and Habibkheil and taken to the property, provided with cigarettes and vodka and allegedly raped by Safi and his co-defendants. The teenager had been Christmas shopping with a friend in the city's Cabot Circus shopping centre in Bristol when they began talking to one of the defendants, Mehrab Safi On Wednesday, jurors watched a video of the complainant in a police interview following the incident. The footage showed she had told Safi she did not want to have sex with him at that point, but it happened regardless. Habibkheil then raped her before Ahmadzai and the 16-year-old boy did the same, she alleged. She told police: 'I just wanted to go home. I didn't feel safe. I just wanted to go home. I didn't like it. I just wanted to be at home.' The girl said she had been asleep during two of the alleged rapes and while being sexually assaulted. Jurors previously heard how the girl's mother raised the alarm when she was not at home, with police tracing her to a house in the St Werburghs area of Bristol. Officers arrested the 16-year-old defendant when he answered the door to the property, while the three older co-accused are alleged to have fled as police arrived. Safi, Habibkheil and Ahmadzai then concealed themselves in the back of a lorry to travel to France, but were discovered by French police at about 9pm on December 3. The defendants, who are being tried at Bristol Crown Court (pictured) deny the charges  Safi, of St Werburghs, Bristol, denies one count of human trafficking and two charges of rape. Habibkheil, of Lockleaze, Bristol, denies one count of human trafficking and one charge of rape. Ahmadzai, of Redcliffe, Bristol, denies one charge of rape and one of assault by penetration. The 16-year-old boy also denies one charge of rape. Their trial, in front of Judge Michael Cullum, is expected to last up to three weeks. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.