Libyan Troops 'Raped Man In Cambridge Park'

Two Libyan soldiers who were training in the UK took it in turns to rape a man after leaving their barracks unsupervised, it is claimed.

Moktar Ali Saad Mahmoud, 33, and Ibrahim Abugtila, 23, acted like "two hunting dogs" when they attacked the man in his 20s in Cambridge on 26 October, a court heard.

The pair were arrested while being trained at Bassingbourn Barracks, near Cambridge, as part of the Government's agreement to help rebuild war-torn Libya after the collapse of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011.

Prosecutor John Farmer told Cambridge Crown Court they met the "complete stranger" in the city centre at 3.26am.

He had left a wedding party after drinking "formidable" amounts of alcohol and is seen on CCTV being led to Christ's Pieces park by the defendants.

Mr Farmer said: "He was in no fit state one way or another to consent. They behaved like two hunting dogs who had seen a wounded animal.

"They effectively took him over and, initially not using too much force and later more forcefully, kept him going in the direction they wanted him to go."

The men each raped the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, while the other held him down, he said.

The alleged attacks are said to have taken 38 minutes and the victim contacted police minutes after the men fled.

Mr Farmer said both accept they had sex with the man, but claim he consented. They say he made up the allegation after stealing money from them.

Mahmoud and Abugtila both deny rape and aiding and abetting rape.

Three of their fellow soldiers were also arrested around the same time over unrelated sex offences in the city.

They are awaiting sentencing after admitting their crimes.

This coincided with other concerns about the behaviour of Libyan cadets training at Bassingbourn Barracks.

In response, the Ministry of Defence sent 300 soldiers back to Libya, and ended an agreement to put 2,000 Libyan troops through basic infantry training.