On 1st March, Syrian refugees identified as Omar Badreddin and his brother Mohamed Badreddin along with two others identified as Huzaefa Aleboud and Hamoud Al Soaimi, were sentenced by Newcastle Crown Court in UK to a combined sentence of 38.5 years for raping a 13-year-old minor girl multiple times between August 2018 and April 2019. Interestingly, Omar was painted as a victim of wrong arrest in 2016 when he was found “not guilty” of raping a minor. While Omar, Mohamed and Huzaefa were found guilty of raping the victim multiple times, Hamoud was found guilty of sexually assaulting the victim. Notably, during the trial it was revealed that Hamoud also raped a 12-year-old.
As per the victim’s testimony, her attackers tortured her and made her life a living nightmare. According to Judge Amanda Rippon, the victim was already in an extremely vulnerable situation when she met the convicts in Newcastle. She was groomed with alcohol and cigarettes by the convicts and later abused repeatedly near the castle in Newcastle city centre and behind a burger restaurant. Prosecutor Anne Richardson said that Mohamed was aggressive and rough with the victim. Reports suggest that Omar raped the victim at least seven times. He also threatened to kill her or take her to another country if she failed to comply with her demands.
Furthermore, Judge Rippon pointed out that the Badreddin brothers were the leaders of the gang. They quickly identified that the victim could be “manipulated” and “groomed”. They treated the victim as a toy and found it “entertaining” to exploit her for sex. Judge Rippon said, “Even when she begged you to treat her more kindly and told you truthfully she was harming herself and could not cope, you made fun of her.”
Omar, Mohamed and Huzaefa have been directed by the court to sign the sexual offenders for life. Hamoud has been directed to sign the register for 10 years. Omar, who is now 26 years old, has been found guilty of six counts of rape and sentenced to 18 years in prison. Mohamed, who is now 23 years old, has been found guilty of six counts of rape and one count of assault by penetration. He has been sentenced to 13 years in prison. 23-year-old Huzaefa has been found guilty of assault by penetration, two counts of rape and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He has been sentenced to 5.5 years in prison. 21-year-old Hamoud has been found guilty of three counts of sexual assault and one count of assault by penetration. He has been jailed for two years and suspended for two years with 180 hours of unpaid work.
In 2016, Omar was arrested for raping a minor. However, after two weeks, the case was dropped. His family’s story was covered by BBC in a documentary titled “To hell and back: the story of a Syrian family given refuge in the UK”. BBC covered his family’s 11-month journey from Syria to Newcastle as part of the resettlement program for Syrian refugees.
Interestingly, when the documentary was being shot, BBC became aware of the criminal case against him. At that time, Omar was 18-year-old and he was accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old minor girl. But for several weeks BBC refrained from publishing this detail. And when they finally talked about the allegations, they focussed on its impact on community tensions.
Two weeks into the trial, the defence barristers requested the court to dismiss the case which was accepted. The defence argued that there was a significant translation error during the police interrogation that invalidated the evidence. At that time, Omar and his co-accused did not speak English.
Following the trial, BBC’s Newsnight journalist Katie Razall interviews Omar’s family. During the interview, Omar said, “I felt she [the victim girl] didn’t want foreigners in this country and that is why she made up the whole story.” BBC’s journalist did not challenge the claims laid down by Omar against the victim. She added, “That, believes Omar Badreddin, was at the heart of the case against them.”
Furthermore, she added, “The Syrian men in many ways appeared less sexually experienced than the girls they were supposed to have attacked.” Razall also wrote an article on the documentary where she said, “The family told me ever since their son’s arrest, they have felt humiliated and dishonoured, even though they were certain their son was innocent. In Syrian culture, this type of accusation is so damaging to their reputation, that even though Omar Badreddin has been cleared, they fear the stigma of it will stick.”
However, the police continued to pursue the case after it was initially dismissed and presented a strong case in the court. The two victims, aged 12 and 14 years, bravely came forward to narrate what had happened to them, and the Northumbria were able to gather enough evidence. The four men were charged with multiple offences, including rape and sexual assault, and they were found guilty in October 2023. And on 1 March 2024, the court awarded the sentences to the convicts.
Among them, Omar Badreddin, labelled ‘victim’ by BBC has been sentenced to 18 years in prison. His brother Mohamed Badreddin was given 13 years.
Accusing BBC of poor editorial judgment, Conservative former UK minister Neil O’Brien said, “The BBC showed remarkably poor editorial judgment in commissioning this fawning documentary, more interested in airing an unchallenged accusation that a 14-year-old girl was a racist who had made up a rape accusation. Given that they smeared a young girl as sexually experienced and failed to challenge the racism accusations made by someone who turns out to be a dangerous sexual predator, you would hope there would be a bit more contrition, but I don’t see any signs so far that any lessons are being learned from this shocking, appalling case”.
Speaking on the matter, a BBC spokesperson said that the channel can only report on the facts as they stand at the time, which the channel did in 2016. “In 2015 and 2016, Newsnight followed the story of the Badreddin family, who were Syrian refugees who had settled in the UK. In 2016, their son Omar was tried for sexual assault and found not guilty. Two years afterwards, in 2018 and 2019, Omar Badreddin and his brother Mohamed committed multiple counts of rape. They were found guilty and were jailed on 1 March 2024. The BBC reported this. In any situation, the BBC can only report on the facts as they stand at the time, which is what we did in 2016. The Badreddins’ subsequent crimes are appalling, and we express our sincere sympathies to their victim.”
UK has a serious problem of Muslim grooming gangs. OpIndia’s detailed reports on the matter can be checked here.
