Karam Majdi jailed for raping 14-year-old girl

Karam Majdi, 19, of Hove, was told he will spend at least half his sentence in a young offenders’ unit before he is deported.

His victim hugged a family member and wept as he was jailed for seven years at Brighton Crown Court.

In a victim impact statement described by the judge as heartbreaking, the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, described Majdi as scum.

The victim from West Sussex, now aged 15, sat in the public gallery behind Majdi as Henrietta Paget for the Crown read her statement.

She said: “Last year wasn’t a good year for me.

“I lost my dad, leaving me feeling devastated and in a low place.

“I suffered another devastating incident last year.

“I was attacked and raped.

“No woman or person should ever have to go through what I did.

“I have three sisters and pray they never have to go through something like this.”

The trial left her mentally exhausted and anxious, the girl said.

“I hate him, he’s a horrible person and disgusting.

“When I think about what he did to me, it makes me sick.

“I shout and scream in my sleep calling out and punching.”

The girl said she was worried about her future happiness.

“Will I be able to get married and have a happy future?” she wrote in her victim statement.

And she said she was in agony following the attack.

“I’m going to have to live with for the rest of my life,” she said.

Majdi used the name Mano Love online to lure two underage girls into meeting him.

Judge Shani Barnes said his internet activity caused huge concern.

He raped one 14-year-old girl and admitted having sex with another during a five-day trial at Brighton.

The jury took less than half an hour to convict him of raping one girl when she was only 14 and cleared him of raping the other girl, who was also 14 at the time.

He broke down in the dock as an Arabic interpreter translated the jury foreman delivering their unanimous verdicts.

Majdi, who gave his age as 19, attacked the girl after an accidental meeting when she visited a friend.

Both girls, now 15, who did not know each other, met Majdi through social media.

The girl told police she was 14 when Mr Majdi raped her at a hostel for young people in Croydon.

She met him at least twice in person before the chance meeting led to rape.

In November last year, the girl went to visit a friend at the hostel.

A group of four people took drugs and watched a film, she told police.

“The defendant started to touch her,” Henrietta Paget for the Crown said.

“She said she didn’t want to do this.

“She told him to stop and he forced himself on top of her.

“She told police she lay there feeling weak and later took pictures of the bruises on her legs and hips.”

HHJ Barnes said she was concerned about the danger Majdi posed to young girls.

“Your internet activity in 2017 is of huge concern.

“You appeared to be trying very hard to find young women online who would have sex with you.

“What you did to your victim that night was opportunistic and vile.

“She was vulnerable because of her age and because she was already suffering from severe psychological harm and this was a severe and prolonged incident.

“I hope you understand the gravity of what you’ve done.

“Had you been convicted of both these girls, I would be passing a very different sentence.”

Speaking directly to the victim sitting at the back of the court, the judge said: “You are very strong, and you are very brave, and you are not going to let this affect you for the rest of your life.”

“Thank you,” the schoolgirl said.

Majdi was traced through his social media profiles and was arrested and interviewed on December 15, last year.

He told police both girls had pursued him for consensual sex and had initiated the sexual activity.

The jury were told Majdi attacked another girl after arranging to meet her in Brighton.

Ms Paget told them: “She perhaps appears quite grown up, but she has learning difficulties and lives with her parents.”

They communicated over Instagram before arranging to meet in Brighton in September last year.

“They did not talk much as he was listening to music on his phone.

“They went back to his flat and she says he forced her to have sex with him.”

The girl remained in the flat and left in the morning after Mr Majdi told her there were no buses.

Her family were so worried they set up a fake Instagram account to contact the person who they thought the girl had been talking to online.

After his arrest, he told police somebody had tried to contact him and he denied being with the girl at her insistence, Ms Paget told the court.

The girl was found the following day distraught in Brighton, the court heard.

Over the series of police interviews, specialist officers established she alleged Mr Majdi had anally raped her.

Detective Constable Stewart Cameron of the Brighton Safeguarding Investigations Unit said; “As soon as we were told of this incident enquiries began and soon Majdi was identified through social media and other information.

“He had contrived a meeting with the girl and her friends and took advantage of her youth and vulnerability to ruthlessly exploit her for his own sexual gratification.

“We have been able to ensure that the victim has access to support and counselling to help her through this ordeal, and she bravely gave evidence against Majdi at his trial.

“She has been very brave and shown immense courage to get through this and should feel very proud of what she has done.

“Young girls are now that much safer because Majdi is off the streets.”

Speaking after the verdict, the victim’s mother said; “This incident it has put an almighty strain on the family and has impacted us all.

“What happened to our daughter was awful and sickening and something no child should go through, or a parent to have to deal with.

“I want to thank Detective Constable Stewart Cameron and PC Mark Green for all the hard work they did to help get the justice in this case and we hope that the sentence reflects the pain and trauma she has been put through.”

The teenager said he was an unaccompanied child from Syria when he arrived in 2016.

But the Home Office rejected his application for asylum after disputing his claims to be from Syria.

Following a language assessment, immigration authorities said they believe Majdi lied about being from Syria when he arrived in the UK.

Authorities now believe he is Egyptian.

He claimed his family had paid for his passage to the UK and for a solicitor to represent his asylum claim.

Despite nearly three years of help from social workers, the court heard Majdi has been moved four times from housing placements after being unable to follow simple rules.

He will be deported at the end of his sentence in line with Home Office rules.

He will also remain on the sex offenders register for life.

He has not made an appeal against the reaction of his asylum claim.

HHJ Barnes said it was extraordinary the Home Office had not confirmed all the details they hold on Majdi with the court.

Her Honour Judge Barnes also ordered an investigation into a potential contempt of court after video and images taken in court during the trial appeared online.

She ordered Sussex police to gather evidence of possible attempt to pervert the course of justice by uploading the images and footage as a way of intimidating witnesses.