IT IS all very well for the First Sea Lord, General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, to deliver stern lectures about the increasing threat of Russian sea power which could in the future deprive us of access to the Atlantic.
Whether real or not, the threat is very distant to people’s concerns about the here and now, where we daily confront the effects of a much more tangible threat – the presence of unassimilated, violent immigrants, whether they have arrived here legally or otherwise.
Very much in the ‘otherwise’ category are two 17-year-old Afghan migrants, Jan Jahanzeb and Israr Niazal, who have just been convicted of raping a 15-year-old girl in a park in Leamington Spa in Warwickshire last May.
When arrested the pair were legally granted anonymity because of their age and simply described as ‘teenage boys’. In the normal run of things, they would have remained anonymous.
What sets this case apart, though, is the intervention of the Daily Mail which made a formal application for the release of the offenders’ names. Ahead of sentencing, Judge Sylvia de Bertodano agreed to lift the ban.
Jahanzeb was jailed for ten years and eight months, while Niazal was jailed for nine years and ten months, with a deduction to reflect he was younger at the time of the offence.
The asylum seekers were living in taxpayer-funded houses at the time of the attack, having arrived in the UK by small boats as unaccompanied children. It is understood, says the Mail, that Jahanzeb made the crossing in January after three previous failed attempts in which French police cut up his dinghy.
Jahanzeb now faces being deported, but Niazal has not been served with papers ordering him to leave the UK because he pleaded guilty one day before turning 17 – making him just a day too young to qualify.
His barrister made the extraordinary suggestion this would allow the younger of the two rapists to ‘make a life for himself in this country’ when he is eventually released. The judge confirmed during her sentencing that she would recommend that the Home Secretary considers deporting both Jahanzeb and Niazal.
Joshua Radcliffe, defending Niazal, actually sought to oppose the application to lift restrictions on naming the offenders by arguing the crime was so appalling that it could lead to rioting.
Referring to a three-minute video clip taken by the victim, Radcliffe said: ‘It is horrific footage, genuinely horrific footage. I have no doubt that if the general public were exposed to that, we would have disorder on our hands’.
Robert Holt, defending Jahanzeb, went further by asking the judge to stop the Press from reporting even that the boys were Afghan asylum seekers.
Arguing for the Mail, Sam Rowe told the court it was in the public interest for the boys to be named due to national concern about sex crimes being committed by asylum seekers.
He said: ‘These defendants plainly pose a grave risk to children, having now been found by the court to have raped a child – irrespective of the time the defendants may spend in prison.’
The judge accepted the arguments, telling the court: ‘The balance clearly falls in favour of the public interest, and the identities of these two young men can be reported.’
That the release of details was contested makes one wonder if in other instances judges sided with the offenders, thus denying the public knowledge of the full extent of migrant crime.
This is one of many cases.
Another involved Amin Abedi Mofrad, 35, an asylum seeker who was was convicted at Oxford Crown Court on November 13 of raping a ‘vulnerable’ 15-year-old girl near the city’s Westgate shopping centre on the evening of February 14, 2024.
Mofrad, originally from Iran, was being housed at the Best Western Plus Moat House in Mill Lane, Reading, leading to Labour MP Yuan Yang describing the asylum system as ‘untenable’ and asking for an update on the government’s plan to close all hotels being used in the asylum process.
At least five other rape cases allegedly involving migrants are awaiting trial next year, and the majority of defendants arrived in small boats.
If convictions result, it would be difficult to avoid the conclusion that we in England have a serious problem of rape by foreign nationals, most of them illegal immigrants.
That being the case, public sentiment is leaning more towards the idea of the Royal Navy taking action against the real invaders, rather than chasing after Russians. The First Sea Lord should take note.
Footnote: The one MP to bring up immigration in Parliament on Tuesday was Rupert Lowe (Independent, Great Yarmouth). As you can see from this video, the Commons chamber was nearly deserted.
A version of this article appeared in Turbulent Times on December 9, 2025, and is republished by kind permission.
