A court in Bristol, United Kingdom, has begun hearing a criminal case involving three Afghan men and a 16-year-old boy accused of the alleged gang rape of a 17-year-old girl.
According to evidence presented by prosecutors, the defendants are Mehrab Safi, 21, Awal Ahmadzai, 19, Salman Habibkhail, 19, and a 16-year-old whose identity has not been disclosed under British legal protections for minors.
The prosecution told the court that the complainant first met Safi in central Bristol several days before the alleged incident in November 2025. Prosecutors said the two later communicated through Snapchat after exchanging contact details.
According to the prosecution’s account, Safi arranged transportation for the teenager from Somerset to Bristol and took her to a property in the St Werburghs area of the city.
Ed Hetherington, representing the Crown Prosecution Service, told jurors that the girl was allegedly raped against her will and that the three other defendants subsequently took part in the assault. He argued that the complainant found herself isolated from her family, surrounded by unfamiliar men and without a safe means of leaving the property.
Court documents further state that after the investigation began, the three adult defendants allegedly left the United Kingdom and travelled to France inside a freight lorry. French police later detained them in Calais and returned them to Britain after confirming their identities.
Prosecutors also told the court that videos recovered from a mobile phone allegedly captured parts of the suspects’ journey out of the country.
The charges differ among the defendants. Mehrab Safi faces two counts of rape and one count of human trafficking. Salman Habibkhail is charged with one count of rape and one count of human trafficking. Awal Ahmadzai faces one count of rape and one count of sexual assault. The 16-year-old defendant is charged with one count of rape.
All four defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The trial remains ongoing and no verdict has been reached. Under British law, all defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt in court.
The case has attracted significant public attention because of the seriousness of the allegations, the age of the complainant, and the international element of the investigation, which involved the arrest and extradition of suspects from France. The proceedings are expected to continue as the court examines witness testimony, digital evidence and the competing accounts presented by both the prosecution and defence.
