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An Afghan asylum seeker has been sentenced to nine years in prison after being convicted of raping a 17-year-old girl in a park in Elgin, Moray. Rapualla Ahmadze, who asserted that he fled Taliban captivity, carried out the attack in August of the previous year. Although Ahmadze denied the rape, claiming the sexual encounter was consensual, a jury found him guilty.
During the trial held at the High Court in Edinburgh, Judge Thomas Welsh KC described the offense as a “shocking and violent” crime. It was revealed that Ahmadze approached the victim with intimidating language before assaulting her. He explained to the court that he had been out late searching for food due to hunger. In addition to the rape conviction, Ahmadze was also found guilty of threatening or abusive behavior. A dispute regarding his exact age was noted, but it was agreed he was around 20 years old at the time of the offense.
Ahmadze’s defense counsel, Shaun Alexander, provided some background on his client’s life in Afghanistan. He stated that Ahmadze was conscripted into the national army at a young age, captured by the Taliban, and imprisoned. Ahmadze claimed he escaped custody despite being injured. Following a difficult journey, he arrived in the UK in 2023 without any familial or social support. Alexander acknowledged that a custodial sentence was unavoidable but cautioned about his client facing deportation to a dangerous environment.
In sentencing, the judge emphasized the severity of Ahmadze’s actions, highlighting that the jury rejected his consent defense and viewed the assault as predatory. The judge expressed sympathy for the victim, describing the trauma she endured as “horrific” and referenced the victim impact statement detailing the profound consequences of the attack. Ahmadze’s nine-year sentence was backdated to the date of the assault, and he has been placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely. Detective Inspector Sam Buchan of Police Scotland condemned Ahmadze’s behavior, emphasizing the message that sexual violence will not be tolerated in the community
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