7 years for refugee given asylum who raped tourist on her last night in UK
A REFUGEE from Sudan granted asylum in Britain raped a tourist on her last night in the country, a court heard yesterday.
Salah Koubar, 20, hurled the woman over railings and dragged her into bushes. He then raped her and chased her along a railway platform.
She was rescued when a Good Samaritan spotted her running away wearing a T-shirt and knickers.
The young victim said: “I thought he was going to kill me.”
Koubar escaped on a train but was arrested two days later. He showed no emotion as he heard how the attack had devastated the young South Korean woman’s life.
Police praised her for bringing Koubar to justice after he was jailed for seven years. Detective Inspector Ian Trantum said: “The victim came back from South Korea for the case and she was unbelievably brave to do so.”
The woman had hoped to meet a friend for a drink in London’s Soho but she bumped into Koubar. He promised to take her to a venue and gave the name of a non-existent night club, London’s Blackfriars Crown Court heard.
He tricked her into getting a bus out of central London. When she realised they were going the wrong way, Koubar snatched her phone and bag.
At West Dulwich railway station, south London, he forced her off the bus and attacked her. An early morning train traveller went to her rescue.
Warwick Tatford, prosecuting, said: “The victim grabbed the passenger’s arm and tried to use him as a human shield.
“She was shaking and had tears in her eyes. He said she looked like she’d been dragged through a hedge backwards – that’s pretty much what had happened.”
Koubar, of Beckenham, Kent, was found guilty of rape last month and jailed yesterday.
In her impact statement, she said: “I was wearing a short dress and thought I was looking attractive and pretty. I do not feel pretty anymore.”
Koubar fled Sudan as a teenager and came to Britain via France.