Libyan soldiers who were jailed for sex attacks while training in Britain have their application for asylum thrown out by court

• there was outrage last September when it emerged Khaled El Azibi, 19, Ibrahim Naji El Maarfi, 21, and Mohammed Abdalsalam, 28, were seeking sanctuary despite their 'despicable' attacks
• In a victory for common sense, the men – who were being trained here to help bring peace to their home country – have now been kicked out of UK
• Drunken trio convicted of a sex rampage in Cambridge in October 2014
• They had absconded from Bassingbourn Barracks in Cambridgeshire, where they were among a contingent of 300 Libyan soldiers under training 

Three Libyan soldiers who applied for asylum after being jailed for a string of sex attacks on British women have had their 'insulting' applications rejected.

In a victory for common sense, the men – who were being trained here to help bring peace to their home country – have now been kicked out of the UK.

There was outrage last September when it emerged that Khaled El Azibi, 19 at the time, Ibrahim Naji El Maarfi, 21, and Mohammed Abdalsalam, 28, were seeking sanctuary despite their 'despicable' attacks.

The drunken trio were convicted of a sex rampage in Cambridge on October 26, 2014. 

They had roamed the streets looking for victims and assaulted three women in the space of an hour. 

They groped the terrified women, attempted to put their hands up their skirts and exposed themselves.

The three Army cadets -  Ibrahim Naji El Maarfi, 21, Ibrahim Naji El Maarfi, 21, and Mohammed Abdalsalam, 27, 

They had absconded from Bassingbourn Barracks in Cambridgeshire, where they were among a contingent of 300 Libyan soldiers under training, before carrying out the attacks.

 They received sentences of between 10 and 12 months but sought asylum after fearing persecution in their home country because of the shame of their crimes in Britain.

however, the Home Office confirmed that El Azibi, El Maarfi and Abdalsalam were refused asylum and had been removed from the country.

They had been held in detention centres while their cases were being considered.

Speaking at the time that their asylum applications were lodged, one of their three victims said she was angered by their 'arrogance to apply after committing despicable crimes'.

The woman, who comes from Cambridge, said seeing her attackers' faces again had 'brought what happened flooding back'. 'They subjected me to a horrible, intimidating sexual assault which I will never be able to forget,' she said.

'It is not only an insult to me and the other women they attacked but an insult to all those people who genuinely need asylum here.'

 MPs were outraged at the farcical situation and said it strengthened the case for scrapping the Human Rights Act. 

The first deployment of Libyan soldiers arrived at Bassingbourn in June 2014 and were meant to be the vanguard of 2,000 to be trained by British troops to support the new Libyan government.

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They had been hand-picked as the best candidates to learn how to improve security in their chaotic home country.

 The training programme was approved despite warnings from Whitehall officials that recreational visits would 'pose significant immigration, security and reputational risks'.

However, following the October attacks on woman and the rape of a man, in his 20s, by another two soldiers stationed at the barracks – Moktar Ali Saad Mahmoud and Ibrahim Abugtila – the scheme was scrapped in November 2014.

Mahmoud and Abugtila – who were aged 33 and 23 respectively at the time – are serving 12-year jail terms for the attack, which happened in Cambridge on the same night as the women were assaulted.

Referring to El Azibi, El Maarfi and Abdalsalam, a spokesman for the Home Office said: 'They have been removed from the country.'