Two Afghan men who entered Britain illegally have been convicted of raping a woman at knifepoint after attacking her while she was stargazing with a man on their first date in an east London park.
Khan Agah and Noorullah Ahmdzai were found guilty of a series of sexual and violent offences following a trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court over the attack in Barking Park at around 11pm on 16 August last year.
The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, had begun speaking to her date through an online dating application approximately two weeks before the attack.
They met in person for the first time that day and were lying together under the stars in Barking Park. The man had a guitar and had been playing for her when the two defendants approached them.
Prosecutor Nutan Fatania told the court that Agah and Ahmdzai overpowered the pair.
One of the attackers produced a Swiss Army-type knife, which was held to the man’s throat while he was warned not to contact police.
The court heard Ahmdzai, 26, raped the woman while Agah restrained and threatened her date.
“I will kill you right now,” the man was told.
The defendants subsequently switched roles during the attack, with prosecutors saying the woman was pinned down and suffocated.
Ms Fatania described what happened as a “terrifying knife-point rape” carried out against two strangers.
She told the court: “They viewed the woman they came across as an object they could use and abuse.”
The prosecutor said the woman was instead “a real human being subjected to a harrowing attack”.
The experience was described during proceedings as “petrifying and awful”, with the court hearing that it left the victim feeling numb.
Police obtained DNA samples from the woman’s clothing shortly after the attack. The forensic evidence was subsequently used by investigators to establish the involvement of Agah and Ahmdzai.
Ahmdzai denied the prosecution’s account and claimed that the woman had offered to have sex with the two men for £20.
The jury, consisting of five men and seven women, rejected his account after deliberating for nine hours.
Agah and Ahmdzai were convicted of two counts of rape, two offences of threatening with a knife, one count of assault by penetration and one count of false imprisonment.
Detective Constable Megan Lelliott, who led the Metropolitan Police investigation, described what happened to the woman as a “horrific ordeal”.
“This was a horrific ordeal for the victim who has been exceptionally brave in not only reporting what happened to her, but also reliving the whole experience during the trial,” she said.
“Her courage means two dangerous men will be held accountable for their actions.”
DC Lelliott said officers remained committed to thoroughly investigating allegations of rape and sexual offences and providing support to people who report them.
The proceedings also established details about the defendants’ immigration histories.
Ahmdzai entered the UK by small boat in August 2023. He was initially housed in a Home Office-funded hotel in London before being transferred to Liverpool.
His asylum application was rejected while he was in Liverpool. The court heard that he began working on a building site to raise money for an appeal before returning to London.
Agah also entered Britain illegally, although the available information does not establish his route into the country.
A separate issue remains unresolved over Agah’s age.
He claimed during the trial that he had been 16 at the time of the attack and is now 17. Court records, however, give his age as 19.
Because of the possibility that he was legally a child, a temporary reporting restriction initially prevented the media from identifying him.
The Daily Mail successfully challenged that restriction on public-interest grounds, allowing Agah to be named. Judge Leslie Cuthbert has ordered a report to establish his age before sentencing.
The judge has also ordered dangerousness reports for both men.
Judge Cuthbert warned Agah and Ahmdzai that they face “lengthy custodial sentences” when they return to court for sentencing in October.
Their immigration status means their convictions and eventual sentences may also trigger deportation proceedings. Any decision on deportation would be taken separately under immigration law and would be subject to the circumstances of their individual cases and any applicable appeal or human-rights processes.