Two Afghan small boat migrants, who brutally raped a 15-year-old girl, have been sent to a “cushy” youth detention center where inmates reportedly enjoy Xbox games, en-suite showers, and a weekly allowance for treats.
Jan Jahanzeb and Israr Niazal, both 17, abducted the child from a park in Leamington Spa before the sexual assault, during which the girl cried and screamed for help.
Following their sentencing on Monday, the pair are being held at Werrington Young Offender Institution in Staffordshire.
‘Mollycoddled’ Regime Sparks Outcry
Conditions at the youth jail are significantly more comfortable than in adult prisons. Inmates are allowed regular visits and phone calls, along with hours of communal time for activities like playing computer games and table tennis.
- They are kept in single cells with showers and a phone, alongside a desk, laptop, TV, and DVD player.
- They can use the gym at least five times a week.
- Inmates receive £20 of taxpayers’ cash each week to spend in the prison shop.
In an attempt at rehabilitation, the facility also offers 30 hours of education weekly, including practical courses like barista training and painting and decorating.
A source claimed the relaxed regime meant Jahanzeb and Niazal are “basically being mollycoddled.”
“It is shocking how cushy their life is there – they have nice cells, which are basically bedrooms, and allowed loads of time out,” the source told The Sun. “That is taxpayers’ money that they can spend on treats like cans of Coke, Maltesers and Pringles.”
Horrific Attack Followed Arrival by Small Boat
Jahanzeb and Niazal had arrived in the UK via small boats only months before the attack on May 10. Phone footage captured by the victim was described in court as so appalling that one of the boy’s own barristers warned it would lead to “disorder” if the public were exposed to it.
The distressing three-minute clip, played at Warwick Crown Court, captured the girl crying “you’re going to rape me” as she was dragged away. She could also be heard weeping, screaming “help,” and begging not to be taken to the park. She was forced to perform a sex act before escaping and filming more clips describing her ordeal.
The victim was eventually found by a passer-by and taken to a police station.
In her impact statement, the girl said: “The day I was raped changed me as a person. I’m no longer a happy, carefree teenager. This was my first sexual experience.”
Sentencing and Deportation
The boys admitted the attack in October. Judge Sylvia de Bertodano jailed Jahanzeb for ten years and eight months and Niazal for nine years and ten months. The judge accepted a legal challenge to name the boys, stating they had “betrayed the interests” of genuine refugees and “should feel a deep and lasting sense of shame.”
“No child should have to suffer the ordeal [the victim] has suffered,” she added. “The fact is, you two have robbed her of her childhood.”
The asylum seekers were living in taxpayer-funded houses at the time of the attack. Jahanzeb faces deportation, but Niazal does not, as he pleaded guilty a day before turning 17—too young to qualify for automatic deportation.
Context: ECHR Reform Efforts
The story comes as efforts led by Britain to reform the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to make deportations easier appear largely “doomed” without the backing of key nations like France and Germany.
Britain and 26 other ECHR members issued a joint statement calling for amendments to make it easier to deport illegal migrants and establish Rwanda-style schemes. However, without the consensus of all 46 members—notably excluding France and Germany—shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick warned that even minor changes are “a million miles away.”
