TEENAGER GUILTY OF RAPING WOMAN IN BEACH TOILET
A 19-year-old individual has been convicted of the crimes of rape and assault by penetration.Mohammed Abdullah was pronounced guilty following a trial at Bournemouth Crown Court, where he was found responsible for raping a 19-year-old woman inside a portable toilet located on Bournemouth seafront during the early hours of July 6 last year.
The defendant, a Syrian national who arrived in the UK in 2023 through a family reunion scheme and resided in West Drayton, Middlesex, has been remanded in custody pending sentencing scheduled for July 3.
During the court hearing, Judge Robert Pawson informed Abdullah that he will likely face a custodial sentence for his actions.
Judge Pawson said: "On the 5th to 6th July, having come down from London with a group of other young men, by unfortunate circumstances your path crossed (with the complainant).
"She had had far too much to drink, it was late at night, she was at the beachfront at Bournemouth and, on a whim, you decided to take advantage of that.
"You deliberately took her further up the beach to the Portaloos which, in my judgment on the evidence, you knew were there and knew they were open.
"You locked her in a Portaloo and you raped her.
"The sentence is to be decided on the 3rd July but it will inevitably involve immediate custody." The court heard that the woman had been out drinking with a friend and was making her way home alone along the seafront when she encountered Abdullah and his friends.
He offered to give her a lift home on his e-bike but instead stopped at a portable toilet, where the assault took place.
Detective inspector Shaun Inkpen, of Dorset Police’s major crime investigation team, praised the victim’s bravery.
He said: "First and foremost I want to praise the victim for the courage she has shown, initially to come forward and report these serious sexual offences and then for her support and resilience throughout the investigation and justice process.
"This has been crucial in holding her attacker to account for his despicable actions that night.
"Mohammed Abdullah preyed upon a vulnerable victim as she walked alone that night and subjected her to a horrific sexual attack.
"He has rightly been found guilty of committing two serious sexual assaults."
