African asylum seeker accused of 'made up story' after raping woman against court wall, trial hears
An African asylum seeker who allegedly raped a woman against a court wall was accused of having a “made up story” to escape justice.
Mubarak Ibrehim, who arrived on a small boat in 2023 from France after travelling from his native Sudan in North Africa, was temporarily living at the Royal Beach Hotel in St Helen’s Parade, Southsea, at the time of the incident. The refugee claimed the alleged victim “took my hand and took off her clothes” before they had sex.
The 25-year-old is accused of raping the woman in her 20s at the back of Portsmouth Combined Court Centre in Alec Rose Lane - where he is on trial. The incident happened between 3am and 4am on Wednesday, June 11, last year after the pair had both been to Astoria nightclub.
Ibrehim denies charges of rape and voyeurism after he filmed the incident - with him claiming it was to prove he had consent. The defendant also insisted he told the woman about the recording.
The incident happened when the alleged victim left Astoria around 3am with a friend who went to buy drugs from an unknown man. The complainant sat on a kerb around the back of the club as she waited for her friend to return after not wanting to be involved in buying drugs.
Giving evidence through an Egyptian Arabic interpreter, the defendant told Portsmouth Crown Court he had met the complainant inside the Astoria nightclub and danced with her - which the woman has denied, though she said she “didn’t know” whether she had briefly met him.
Ibrehim said he intended to walk home to the hotel on Southsea seafront when he was told by two boys that the complainant and her friend were looking for him. He denied he was “looking for girls”, adding: “There were no girls in my mind. I wasn’t thinking about girls, I was going home.”
Ibrehim said he approached the woman as she sat on the kerb and asked: “Can I kiss you?” After they started kissing Ibrehim claimed the woman “dragged” him to the court building vehicle bay and added: “She took my hand and pulled me there, she led me.”
He continued: “I was asking ‘Where are we going?’ When we approached the corner she was pulling me, I found it strange and thinking ‘Where is she taking me?’”
Ibrehim denied forcing himself on the complainant and added: “She consented and she was taking my clothes off.”
He added: “If she doesn’t like it, she can just leave, there are no walls, it’s not a house.”
Ibrehim said footage of the sexual intercourse which he filmed on his mobile phone showed the complainant making noises which he said was her “enjoying” it.
He said: “When I started to film, I said ‘Don’t worry’ because she thought I was going to film her face so I said ‘Don’t worry’.”
Prosecutor Edward Hand poured scorn on the account, though, asking Ibrehim: “Have you made up your story because you raped her?”
Ibrehim replied: “No that’s impossible. I did not rape her.”
When asked by judge Daniel Sawyer about the video recording, Ibrehim said he started filming as soon as they started having sex while explaining the sequence of events. “She took out my penis and held it in her hand and then when she wanted to insert it I took out my mobile phone,” he said.
Ibrehim said he messaged her the next day with his mobile phone and said he would not have done so if he believed something had been wrong about the previous night.
Ibrehim told the jury he was from Darfur in Sudan and said: “Since I was born, there was war in my country.”
He said he arrived in the UK “unlawfully” on a small inflatable boat from France in October 2023 and he was seeking political asylum.
Ibrehim denies charges of rape and voyeurism.
The trial continues.