Asylum seeker guilty of brutally raping teenager in Cooper Park in Elgin

An asylum seeker has been found guilty of raping a vulnerable teenager in a brutal attack in a Moray park.

Afghan national Rapualla Ahmadze, also known as Rafiullah Ahmadzai, was walking the streets of Elgin in the early hours of August 4, 2024, before approaching his then-17-year-old victim on a bench in Cooper Park.

A trial at Edinburgh High Court today saw the 21-year-old unanimously found guilty of raping the teenager.

The court heard that the victim was struggling with her mental health at the time and was out for a walk to listen to music.

She later told police that Ahmadze, who was staying in an Elgin hotel before being rehoused, approached her and asked if she had a boyfriend.

When she replied she did not, the victim added, “he told me that he was my boyfriend now".

He pulled her up off the bench and started walking her towards a playpark with an arm around her waist and a hand touching her right breast.

She said: "I kept thinking I need to get away.

“I tried to pull away from him three times. When I did this the man pulled me more towards him."

The teenager said she was scared he would become angry if she continued to try and get away.

The attacker then pushed the girl to the ground and molested her before walking her to nearby bushes and forcing her to the ground again.

She said: "I ended up on my back. When he did this the man was in front of me and leaning over me."

The girl was then subjected to rape and oral rape despite cries of “no”.

“The man completely ignored me when I was saying this," said the teenager.

The ordeal came to an end when the victim saw another man walking in the park.

Said she needed to go and raised her voice to get the attention of the other man and ask for help.

That man was 28-year-old John Donald.

He told the court that the victim’s hands and arms were shaking as she approached him and he “felt a sense of scaredness”.

He said: "The size difference between the male and female was noticeable.

"She was physically shaking and immediately asked for help.

“She was crying by this time. She was really struggling to catch her breath. It was like she was hyperventilating.

“She told me she needed help and asked me to walk her somewhere."

The victim went to Dr Gray's Hospital in Elgin where she spoke to staff and the police were alerted.

Ahmadze denied raping the teenager and claimed that sex was consensual, the victim was happy and instigated what occurred.

He told the court through an interpreter: "When we went to the bushes I wanted to leave but she wanted to have sex with me and then we had sex."

Ahmadze claimed that he was out in the early hours of the morning because he was hungry and looking for a pizza restaurant.

The 21-year-old was unanimously found guilty of rape and was also convicted of threatening behaviour on two occasions between March 1 and April 30 last year at a house in Dufftown.

Edinburgh High Court heard that he acted aggressively and demanded money and the provision of a new shower.

During his evidence to the court, Ahmadze claimed he was born in 2007 and was currently aged 18.

Immigration authorities provided his date of birth as January 2004.

Trial judge Thomas Welsh KC told Ahmadze: "Custody is inevitable in your case."

Ahmadze was placed on the sex offenders' register and remanded in custody while a background report and risk assessment is prepared on him ahead of sentencing in November.