An illegal small-boat migrant has been jailed for eight years for raping a young York woman in Shambles Market late at night.
Eid Anwar Fathi Najjar, 21, described as a “predator”, marched the woman from the Vudu Lounge nightclub in Swinegate, sexually assaulted her in the street, then lured her to the famous open-air market where he raped her, York Crown Court heard.
Najjar, of Burton Stone Lane, Clifton, initially denied the rape and a further charge of sexual assault and a trial had been set down for November last year.
However, the trial date was vacated after he changed his pleas to guilty days before the trial was due to take place.
The Egyptian national, who arrived in the UK illegally three years ago after crossing the Channel on a small boat, appeared for sentence today (2 February) after being remanded in custody following his arrest last year.
Prosecutor Claire Holmes said that Najjar, who was aided in court by an Egyptian Arabic interpreter, encountered the victim in Vudu Lounge while she was out drinking and partying into the early hours in July last year.
She had been out with friends but became separated from them and ended up on her own at the club in an extremely drunk state.
“Within minutes of seeing the victim on the dance floor, the defendant lured her to a secluded spot where he raped her and, on the way, perhaps to test her level of intoxication, or perhaps because he couldn’t wait to satisfy his sexual urges, he put his hand down her trousers in full view of CCTV,” added Ms Holmes.
“The victim has no recollection of this offence. She was, on her own admission, very drunk.”
Earlier that day the victim had met a few friends for drinks and a meal in the afternoon. They spent about three hours in a city centre pub between 9pm and midnight.
One of her friends then got a lift home and another went home in a taxi. The victim, who was by now on her own, decided to walk home, but as she did so, her friends noticed that she “wasn’t walking in the right direction”.
Instead, she ended up at a cocktail bar in the city centre where she had more drinks. She left that bar at just before 12.50am, “drunk and unsteady on her feet”.
Five minutes later, one of her friends called to ask if she was going home but couldn’t hear her “because of the noise” in the city centre.
She then made her way towards Vudu Lounge, apparently looking for a taxi home but ended up inside the nightclub at just before 2am.
“The victim goes to the dance floor where the defendant immediately approaches her, and within minutes of him approaching, he leads her outside,” said Ms Holmes.
Targeted by Najjar
CCTV footage of their movements at Vudu Lounge showed Najjar approach the victim just four minutes after she entered the club. After trying to schmooze her on the dance floor, he then left with her several minutes later.
CCTV showed that the victim, who can’t be named for legal reasons, had been in the club little more than nine minutes before she was whisked outside by Najjar.
“Her next memory is of being at her front door crying and she wasn’t wearing trousers or underwear,” added Ms Holmes.
One of the nightclub’s bouncers said he was speaking to other door staff at the time Najjar left the club with the woman but he noticed that the victim had left the venue not long after entering.
“He could see that the victim was very drunk and pretty out of it,” said Ms Holmes.
“He thought she was vulnerable and so, knowing that she hadn’t arrived at the club with the defendant, he went over to speak with them.
“He asked the victim her name and she couldn’t tell him. He told the defendant to stay away from her and that he didn’t want to see them together.
“Najjar told the doorman that he was going home and the doorman told the defendant that if he left with the woman he would tell the police.”
CCTV outside the club showed Najjar “kissing and holding her back” in the street. Another doorman said it looked like Najjar was “controlling the victim’s movement and where he wanted her to go”.
“He described her as being in a zombie-like state,” added Ms Holmes.
Najjar walked off with the woman as the doorman who initially confronted him was called away to speak with someone else.
“When he turned around, the defendant and the victim were walking towards Shambles Market,” said Ms Holmes.
It appeared at one stage that the victim was trying to head for a taxi, but Najjar appeared to lead her in another direction.
The victim was said to be “so pliable” at the time through drink “that she would go where led”.
“At one point on their way to the market), the defendant stops and puts his hands down her trousers,” added Ms Holmes.
CCTV showed that, at this point, the victim “appears to pull away”, but was unable to escape Najjar because she was so drunk.
The sexual assault occurred on a paved area just yards from the back of a burger van where two people were waiting for takeaway food.
After raping the victim in the market, Najjar returned to Vudu Lounge where his friends were said to be “angry” with him. He was then ejected from the club by doormen.
Meanwhile, the victim was found wandering the streets by two foreign tourists at about 2.50am. “The victim appeared on the pavement,” added Ms Holmes.
“She wasn’t wearing trousers or underwear but had wrapped her trousers around her and she was so confused that she did not know that they were in fact her trousers.”
The tourists, two brothers, were walking towards Shambles Market when they came across the woman near a takeaway.
“She was noticeable because she wasn’t wearing any lower clothes,” said Ms Holmes.
“She wasn’t carrying any bag or phone.”
The two brothers said the woman was “distressed, confused, upset and shocked”.
“She did not know what had happened and why she was there, and she couldn’t explain why she was half-dressed,” added Ms Holmes.
They walked her home, but she couldn’t get into her property because she couldn’t remember the number for the key box.
One of the men gave her his jacket to wear and they returned to Shambles Market with her where they found her handbag, phone and underwear.
The brothers then flagged down a passing police car. The victim got inside the police vehicle and spoke to officers but “couldn’t tell them what had happened because she did not know”.
The following day, the victim, who had bruising, went for a medical examination where swabs forensically linked Najjar to the rape.
Najjar was duly arrested but initially gave police a false named and date of birth.
He was brought in for questioning but told a pack of lies, claiming he had consensual sex with the woman and that she had removed her own clothing. He ultimately resiled from these claims when he entered his belated guilty pleas.
Frequent nightmares
In a victim statement read out by the prosecution, the victim said she had “found the whole process overwhelming and very emotional”.
“I’ve been very stressful and a lot more anxious when I’m out in public,” she added.
She no longer liked going to the pub with her friends. She had had “frequent” nightmares and her mental health had been badly affected.
Defence barrister Harry Crowson said that Najjar, who had no previous convictions, was terrified of potentially being deported for his wicked offences.
He said that in conversations with Najjar, the defendant had told him: “I deserve punishment in this country, but please don’t send me back.”
Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, told Najjar: “Having heard the evidence in this case, about the state the victim was in, no man could reasonably believe she was capable of consenting, and you accept that.”
Najjar was given a nine-year jail sentence and told he would serve two-thirds of that behind bars before being released on prison licence.
The Home Office will duly consider his deportation.
‘Danger to women’
Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Superintendent Fionna McEwan of North Yorkshire Police’s Major Investigation Team, said: “Najjar is a sexual predator and a danger to women and is now rightly behind bars.
“My thanks go to the victim for her bravery and support of the investigation after being subjected to such a horrific ordeal.
“I would also like to thank the members of the public who took care of the victim after the attack and supported the investigation, and the numerous members of door staff who provided witness evidence and made attempts to prevent Najjar from targeting women.
“Rape and sexual assault have far-reaching and long-lasting effects on survivors and everyone in society must challenge predatory and sexualised behaviour when they see it.
“All women must be able to enjoy a night out without worrying about the entitled behaviour of predatory men.
“I urge anyone If you are a victim of rape or sexual assault, no matter when it happened, please come forward. You will be listened to and all reports will be fully investigated. Even if the incident was a long time ago and it is not possible to convict the offender, you will still be offered all of the support services that are available to victims of abuse.”
