TWO asylum seekers who forced a teenage girl off the street and subjected her to a sustained and 'terrifying' rape ordeal had their sentences raised by the Court of Appeal.
Judges in London agreed with the Attorney General, Baroness Scotland, that five-year custodial terms imposed on Mohammed Ali and Alik Madi were too short.They added a further two years to each of their sentences.The pair, who lived in a hostel in Rochdale, Lancashire, attacked their victim in the town after spotting her as she made her way home alone at night.
They followed her, grabbed and overpowered her. During the ordeal the struggling girl managed to run away, but they pursued her and raped her after dragging her into bushes.After pleading guilty to rape Ali. a Kashmiri national, and Madi, from Algeria, who both claim to be 18, were each sentenced at Bolton Crown Court in February to five years in a young offenders' institution.
But it was successfully argued on behalf of the Attorney General that because of the aggravating features of a 'most grave offence' - including the fact that it was a 'double stranger rape' on a vulnerable victim - the original terms were unduly lenient.The sentences were increased by Lord Justice Goldring, sitting with two other judges.
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