An Eritrean Rapist asylum seeker, Dan Tesfalul, who entered the country via a tiny boat raped a British woman in central Norwich after she exited a nightclub.
Dan Tesfalul, an Eritrean residing in the UK since 2022, assaulted his victim on Rose Lane before fleeing upon confrontation by a security guard.
He was first accused of raping the victim three times at the same incident.
Subsequent to his guilty plea on one charge, prosecutors consented to allow the remaining two counts to remain on file.
During the assault in May 2024, Dan Tesfalul was residing in the Brook Hotel in Bowthorpe, one of two hotels in Norwich utilised by the Home Office as temporary accommodation for asylum seekers.
Before the sentencing, the victim read out a statement in which she said: “It was such a horrible attack when I was at my most vulnerable.”
She said was now “scared of being out alone in case it might happen again”.
“I feel scared of men and feel they are out to get me and rape me too.
“It’s horrible to feel scared of every man you see when in the city and in the shops.”
The victim also said she now “hates people touching me”, keeps herself “hidden away” and just wants to “curl up into a ball”.
Sentencing Dan Tesfalul to an extended sentence of 13 years and five months – eight years three months custody and five years on licence – Judge Alice Robinson told him: “This was a horrific attack on a lone intoxicated female in the middle of the night resulting in a number of bruises and deep distress.”
Dan Tesfalul was made the subject of a restraining order banning him for contacting the victim directly or indirectly for 15 years.
He was also put on the sex offenders register indefinitely. There was no mention of deportation.
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