Teenage asylum seekers who both raped 15 year old girl in Warwickshire named
Jan Jahanzeb and Israr Niazal, both 17, pleaded guilty at a hearing at Coventry youth court in October to attacking the girl in May of this year
Last updated 8th Dec 2025
A judge has lifted reporting restrictions protecting the identities of two Afghan asylum seekers aged 17 who carried out the "horrific" rape of a teenage girl.
Warwick Crown Court was told Jan Jahanzeb and Israr Niazal led the highly-distressed 15-year-old victim into a "den-type" area in parkland in Leamington Spa where they attacked her.
Ruling that the youths should be identified after applications to name them by four media organisations including the Press Association, Judge Sylvia de Bertodano accepted that keeping existing restrictions in place could lead to speculation which might see innocent people being targeted.
"A lack of information stokes public anger and leads to the unchecked spread of false information," the judge said.
Jahanzeb and Niazal pleaded guilty at a hearing at Coventry youth court in October to attacking the girl in May of this year.
Both defendants were committed to the Crown Court for sentence, each appearing in the dock assisted by their own interpreter.
The rape, which took place after the victim had become separated from friends in a grassed area, was described as "horrific" during legal submissions regarding reporting restrictions.
Opening the facts of the case against Jahanzeb and Niazal on Monday, Prosecutor Shawn Williams said both defendants were unaccompanied child asylum seekers.
Jahanzeb fled Afghanistan and underwent an age assessment which concluded he was 17 after arriving in the UK in January this year, Mr Williams said.
Niazal arrived in the UK in November last year, initially being accommodated in Kent before being moved into local authority care in the Warwickshire area.
Mr Williams told the court that video evidence recovered during a police inquiry showed Jahanzeb in company with the victim and speaking in Pashto to summon Niazal to join him.
Footage from a mobile phone recovered during the inquiry was highly distressing, Mr Williams said, adding that the victim had screamed for help but Jahanzeb had placed his hand over her mouth.
The victim had made "explicit verbal protests" during what Mr Williams described as "an abduction".
Mr Williams said of CCTV footage showing three figures: "She was being led away against her will.
"She was moved to a bushy den-type area - a really secluded location."
The victim, who was terrified, recalls that she was then pushed to her knees before being raped.
"The prosecution case is that it was probably Jahanzeb that did that, but what is certain is that Israr Niazal was present and participating," Mr Williams said.
The victim had repeatedly shouted for Jahanzeb to let go of her, the court heard, but he beckoned to Niazal to join him before leading the girl to the rape scene.
She was eventually assisted by a member of the public who advised her to contact the police and stayed with her until she was safe.
In an impact statement read to the court by a barrister, the victim, who cannot be identified, said: "The day I was raped changed me as a person.
"Now every time I go out I don't feel safe.
"Watching (other family members) feeling crushed as they believe they should have been there or done something is particularly painful for me, even though I know they couldn't have done anything to stop what happened.
"I hate the fact that I am now looked at as a victim, even though that's exactly what I am."