Three Afghan nationals who raped a teenager, before being stopped by French police as they fled the UK in the back of a lorry, have been jailed.
The victim came to Bristol for the first time on 25 November 2025 with a friend on a Christmas shopping trip.
During the trip, the girl met Safi and they exchanged numbers and Snapchat contacts.
Safi later used the platform to persuade her to send nude photos.
He then arranged for a taxi to take her from her home to his house in St Werburghs in the early hours of 30 November where he and the three others raped her.
Mehrab Safi, 21, Awal Ahmadzai and Salman Habibkheli, both 19, were found guilty on 26 June of multiple offences against the girl at a house in St Werburghs, Bristol, last year.
Safi first met the 17-year-old girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, while she was Christmas shopping, and groomed her over Snapchat before paying for a taxi to bring her to Bristol.
Safi was jailed for 15 years at Bristol Crown Court on Tuesday, while Habibkheli and Ahmadzai were both sentenced to nine years in a youth detention centre.
Sentencing the three men, Judge Michael Cullum said being trafficked and raped by the men will have caused “unimaginable” trauma to the teenager.
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A 17-year-old boy – who is an Afghan national but cannot be named for legal reasons – was also convicted of rape, but he did not try to escape the UK. He was sentenced to two years and seven months in a youth detention centre.
In a victim impact statement read out to the court, the girl said the attack had left her “traumatised” and fearful of leaving the house.
“I had a lot more friends, I would go out a lot more, I was happier. Now, I’ve stopped going out, I don’t even leave the house in general.
“If I ever leave the house, it is only with my best friend or mum. I would not be able to go out by myself, even the thought of that makes me panic.
