Asylum seeker jailed for attempted rape after victim fought him off

A Deliveroo delivery driver has been jailed after he tried to rape a woman by a World War One memorial, a court heard.

Tesfagabriel Gebrzgabhi was riding his distinctive neon green bike with a Deliveroo tag on the bag before targeting the drunken woman who was on her own.

In the late-night attack, the 34 year old - who is an asylum seeker - pinned the woman in her 20s against a wall by the war memorial and pulled her skirt up.

The attempted rape happened in an alleyway next to the Cenotaph in historic naval city Portsmouth, Hants.

The Cenotaph in Portsmouth, which took heavy losses during WWI, was opened in the city centre by Prince Arthur in 1921 and honours soldiers and sailors who sacrificed their lives with inscriptions of their names.

The memorial is just yards from Portsmouth's Guildhall Walk, a popular nightlife spot where the woman had been out drinking with her friends on Feb 1 this year but became separated.

Around 10pm, when the woman was walking on her own, Gebrzgabhi targeted the woman in the alleyway.

At Portsmouth Crown Court, prosecutor Gary Venturi said: "He approached her and took her by the arm and pushed her against a nearby wall and pulled her skirt up.

“Despite her intoxication she was able to remember saying 'what are you doing? Get off'.

"The exposed defendant replied, 'it’s fine, let me do it'. He then tried to pull down her shorts she was wearing under her mini dress."

The woman managed to fight Gebrzgabhi and pulled out her mobile phone to try to record the attack.

Mr Venturi added: "It’s clear he was trying to penetrate her but was unsuccessful as the charge reflects. She was crying and telling him she did not know him."

The woman told the court she now needs counselling. She said: "I find it very difficult outside when it’s dark and try not to walk anywhere alone. I ask friends and family to accompany me."

She described herself as a previously strong, independent woman and now “hates having to rely on others”.

She added: "I love people but I now doubt people. I hate him for that. I hate that he approached me and tried to have sex. Iknow that if I had let go of my shorts he would have had sex with me."

Gebrzgabhi was arrested a week after the attack after police officers spotted him on his neon bike back at Guildhall Walk.

His semen was found on the woman's clothes.

He was jailed for six years and four months and now faces deportation.

Barrister Richard Onslow, defending Gebrzgabhi, said he was “deeply ashamed”.

Mr Onslow said Gebrzgabhi came to the country on a small boat to ‘seek a better life’ before he was sent to Portsmouth where he knew no one and barely spoke any English.

Jailing him, Judge Michael Bowes KC said the woman was “all but” raped and had suffered “serious psychological harm”. Gebrzgabhi admitted one count of attempted rape.

Pol Con Sarah Ball, of Hampshire Constabulary, said: “This was an extremely concerning and opportunistic assault on a vulnerable woman, I would like to commend the victim for her courage in disclosing what happened that night and assisting our investigation.

“The impact that his actions have had on the woman involved are unmeasurable and I hope that this sentence helps to bring some closure to and allows her to move on in her life."