A Syrian refugee who tricked an extremely drunk young mother into what she believed was an Uber home before raping her as a friend watched has been jailed for eight years.
Mohammed Al Masri, 25, preyed on the vulnerable woman after a pre-Christmas night out in Manchester city centre, pretending he was helping her get home before diverting her to a HMO where he was living in Abbey Hey.
The victim was so intoxicated she had to be carried inside and taken upstairs to Al Masri’s bedroom. He falsely reassured her that she was safe, that her boyfriend was on his way and that she should go to sleep.
When she awoke, he was raping her. A second man stood at the end of the bed. She believed he was filming the attack.
In a victim impact statement, the young mother told the court she feared she would never see her children again.
"I remember thinking, I am going to die. I was thinking about my children and how they would be able to live without a Mum. I just wanted it all to be over. I had no idea who he was. I had no idea where I was. I genuinely questioned whether I would leave this place with my life."
She described freezing with fear and being unable to move as the assault continued.
Police arrived after her boyfriend tracked her location using WhatsApp and dialled 999. Officers forced entry, found her extremely distressed and took Al Masri into custody.
Al Masri admitted having sex with the woman but claimed it had been consensual. A jury rejected his account by a majority verdict of 10-2, finding him guilty of rape.
Sentencing him, Recorder Alexandra Simmonds said there were elements of abduction because the victim had been deceived into believing she was being driven home. She said the woman had been in no condition to consent and told Al Masri: "She was not consenting, and you must have known that."
The judge also highlighted the degradation caused by the presence of the second man and said Al Masri had continued to deny responsibility despite overwhelming evidence.
As well as his eight-year prison sentence, he was made subject to lifetime sex offender notification requirements, a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and a restraining order.
Al Masri is expected to serve two-thirds of his sentence in prison, roughly around five years and four months before being released on licence, in line with current rules for serious sexual offences.
The court heard Al Masri had fled Syria and had been granted refugee status and permission to remain in the UK until 2029. His barrister said he had no previous convictions in the UK and had been working.
The judge revealed that any future decision about deportation would not be made by the criminal court.
Under UK law, foreign nationals given a custodial sentence of 12 months or more face automatic deportation. Nearly 10,000 foreign national offenders have been removed since July 2024, yet thousands more remain in the community because of legal challenges.
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