// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Afghan men jailed for rape of teenager after being caught fleeing UK by French police
Awal Ahmadzai, Salman Habibkheil and Mehrab Safi fled the UK after committing a string of sexual offences against a 17-year-old girl
Three Afghan nationals who raped a teenager, before being stopped by French police as they fled the UK in the back of a lorry, have been jailed.
Mehrab Safi, 21, Awal Ahmadzai and Salman Habibkheli, both 19, were found guilty on 26 June of multiple offences against the girl at a house in St Werburghs, Bristol, last year.
Safi first met the 17-year-old girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, while she was Christmas shopping, and groomed her over Snapchat before paying for a taxi to bring her to Bristol.
Safi was jailed for 15 years at Bristol Crown Court on Tuesday, while Habibkheli and Ahmadzai were both sentenced to nine years in a youth detention centre.
Sentencing the three men, Judge Michael Cullum said being trafficked and raped by the men will have caused "unimaginable" trauma to the teenager.
A 17-year-old boy - who is an Afghan national but cannot be named for legal reasons - was also convicted of rape, but he did not try to escape the UK. He was sentenced to two years and seven months in a youth detention centre.
In a victim impact statement read out to the court, the girl said the attack had left her "traumatised" and fearful of leaving the house.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story, information and support can be found at the BBC's Action Line.
Safi transported the girl by taxi from Somerset to a house in Bristol where she was raped by the men and boy