Three Afghan nationals filmed themselves laughing and swearing in the back of a lorry as they fled the UK just days after raping a teenage girl, a court has heard. The footage, recovered from the phone of Mehrab Safi, 21, was played for the jury at Bristol Crown Court and showed the men celebrating their escape, the prosecution said.
The video, taken on December 3 2025, captures Safi filming his two companions Awal Ahmadzai and Salman Habibkheil, both 19, as they hide among packages in a trailer. In the clip, one man pulls his coat up and appears to settle down for the night on top of a load. Habibkheil gestures and laughs in the corner while Ahmadzai lies down on the cargo. “It is a direct insight into the mood of the three, we suggest, as they travel out of the UK and into France,” prosecutor Edd Hetherington told the jury. “We suggest they are celebrating because they think they have got away with it.”
The lorry was stopped by French authorities in Calais shortly after it arrived. The three men were returned to the UK and immediately arrested on suspicion of rape. Their journey was a desperate bid to avoid justice after they and a 17-year-old boy had subjected a 17-year-old girl to a night of horrific sexual violence at a house in Bristol.
How the grooming and rapes unfolded
The victim met Safi on November 25 2025 while she was Christmas shopping with a friend in Bristol city centre. Safi then groomed her on Snapchat, asking for nude photographs, before arranging for a taxi to bring her from Somerset to Bristol in the early hours of November 30. Habibkheil was involved in the taxi arrangements, the court heard.
Once at a property in the St Werburghs area of Bristol, the girl was given cigarettes and vodka. She was then raped by Safi and Habibkheil. After she fell asleep, she was raped and sexually assaulted by Ahmadzai. Then the 17-year-old boy raped her. Later that morning, she was raped again by Safi. In total, she was attacked by four men in the same house.
The victim later 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’s mother had reported her missing that same morning. Police traced her to the St Werburghs address and arrested the 17-year-old boy at the door. Safi, Habibkheil and Ahmadzai fled the scene, evading capture until they were discovered in the lorry three days later.
Convictions and sentencing
All four defendants denied the charges, but following a trial a jury convicted them on all counts. Safi, of St Werburghs, was found guilty of one count of human trafficking and two charges of rape. Habibkheil, of Lockleaze, was convicted of one count of human trafficking and one charge of rape. Ahmadzai, of Redcliffe, was found guilty of one charge of rape and one of assault by penetration. The 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named, was convicted of one charge of rape.
Judge Michael Cullum told the three adult defendants: “To each of the defendants who are adults, you will receive immediate custodial sentences.” Addressing the youth, the judge said: “Although you are 17 years old, you must expect to receive an immediate custodial sentence. Your lawyers will ask me not to send you to custody and I will consider those arguments.”
Under UK law, the age of consent is 16, and individuals under 13 cannot legally consent. Rape of a minor carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. The Crown Prosecution Service prioritises prosecution in cases of sexual offences against children where there is a realistic prospect of conviction, consistent with this case.
The defendants were remanded into custody — the three men to prison and the 17-year-old released on conditional bail including an overnight curfew at an address outside the region. All are scheduled to be sentenced on October 6.
The case echoes other incidents in which migrants have been discovered in lorries attempting to cross the Channel. In October 2019, eight Afghan migrants were rescued from a refrigerated lorry in Calais. Judge Michael Cullum has previously presided over cases involving young defendants and delays in the justice system.
