A Sudanese immigrant was today cleared of raping a university student within months of arriving in the UK.
Samir Muhammad, 21, was found not guilty of raping the young woman he met at the Cameo nightclub in Bournemouth, Dorset, nearly four years ago.
He had been accused of dragging the girl out of the venue and taking her back to a friend’s flat nearby on December 5 2021.
Bournemouth Crown Court heard Muhammad had arrived in the UK in early 2021 after fleeing Sudan when he was aged 16 because it was not safe for him there. His immigration status was not revealed in court.
The first year student claimed Muhammad, whose first language is Zaghawa, raped her twice and held her in the flat for two hours.
She said she was only allowed to leave after she turned on her mobile phone and her worried friends found her location on Snapchat.
Muhammad denied two counts of rape and he was cleared today.
The trial heard the young woman had one drink in the club and felt ‘out of it’ when Muhammad dragged her outside at 3.20am.
Samir Muhammad, 21, was today cleared of raping a university student within months of arriving in the UK
She told the court he forced her to undress, pinned her down and raped her despite her asking him to stop.
She claimed he then refused to let her leave and stopped her answering calls from her worried friends.
The student said she borrowed his charger and was then able to share her location with them on Snapchat and they said they were coming to get her. The court heard she left at 5.50am.
But Muhammad claimed the girl had asked him if she could go back to the flat in Sandringham House to charge her phone.
Muhammad said: ‘I said, can I get your number and she said my phone is dead, can I come with you to charge my phone? I said it was not my flat and I will ask my friend. He said okay.
‘She took her clothes off, she was hugging me. I’m happy, she was happy as well. I didn’t force her.
‘After, I was tired, she said “are you sure you’re tired?” and we started sex again.’
Muhammad also denied preventing her from leaving or using her phone.
He told the court: ‘I told her two or three times to stay. She insisted she wanted to go. I did ask her to stay because it was dark, I just wanted [her] to be safe, I said stay until the morning.
‘I said I would walk with her to meet her friend. She said “you can go now”. She gave my hand a kiss and said see you later. Afterwards I sent her a message on Snapchat, I said “have you met your friends?”‘
The court heard the woman saw the message but did not reply.
Muhammad said he put his number in her phone because ‘she was talking to be together, we were happy together and to meet her again’.
The jury returned not guilty verdicts after less than three hours of deliberations.
