Asylum seeker, 34, ‘raped woman in seaside town park just 40 days after arriving in the UK from France’

• Saad Gomaa, 34, allegedly took advantage of a drunk woman in a Skegness park

By Andy Dolan[1]

Published: 17:57, 6 December 2023 | Updated: 01:30, 7 December 2023

An asylum seeker raped a woman in a seaside town park just 40 days after arriving in the UK, a court has heard.

Saad Gomaa, 34, of Skegness, is alleged to have told a drunken woman he was 'illegal' before raping her in a park.

Gomaa allegedly attacked the woman[2] after she wandered into Tower Gardens in Skegness after dark. He was arrested in a bar in the Lincolnshire resort later that night.

Prosecutor Clive Stockwell KC said police officers realised Gomaa required an Arabic interpreter and asked him to confirm a number of details, before he told them: 'I have only been in the country 40 days.'

Saad Gomaa, 34, allegedly handed the woman a vial of liquid before he kissed her and climbed on top of her (Pictured: Gomaa arriving at Lincoln Crown Court)

When asked to give the name of the country he had come from, Gomaa replied: 'France.'

The barrister said the defendant also confirmed his name and gave the details of the hotel where he was staying.

Giving evidence on Wednesday afternoon, Egyptian national Gomaa confirmed he arrived in the UK by sea with 70 other immigrants at the end of April.

Gomaa confirmed he had not visited the UK before, and had spent around ten days in France after travelling from Italy, where he had lived for four years.

Gomaa said he last visited Egypt in August last year, spending four months living with his wife and son.

When asked about his plans for living in England, Gomaa confirmed: 'I was planning to live here happily, and live with my son and family.'

When asked how he arrived in the UK, Gomaa said: 'I came with 70 more immigrants by sea. The British police saved us from the sea.'

Gomaa said he spent two days in Dover, being investigated by the police, and was then moved to Skegness.

Gomaa allegedly attacked the woman after she wandered into Tower Gardens in Skegness (pictured) after dark

The woman was allegedly raped in the Skegness park (pictured) by the 'illegal' migrant after entering the gardens to relieve herself

A dogwalker at the park said she found the woman crouched down and holding onto the park railings while she was on the phone to the police

'About seven or eight of us were driven by car to the hotel in Skegness along with our documents', he said.

Mr Stockwell said documents found during a search of the hotel where Gomaa was billeted 'supported (that) he was on Home Office bail on determination of his asylum application.'

During his police interview Gomaa said: 'I've only been here 40 days so I don't have a special routine'.

'All I do is go for a coffee in that restaurant and then I go where my feet take me.'

He claimed he had consensual sex with the woman, who had travelled to the town by train earlier that day.

Lincoln Crown Court heard the woman had consumed a bottle of vodka, and had gone into the gardens to relieve herself after being turned away from a nightspot.

She told police the man 'just appeared'.

'I remember this man being here', she said. 'He wasn't English, and then I remember being on the ground and this guy was sat next to me, kind of.

'I was trying to engage in conversation with him', she said. 'I was asking him if he was legally here.

I remember that question

'He said 'illegal, illegal.''

Gomaa has been staying at the County Hotel (pictured) after entering the UK from France

A Parade in Skegness shows three hotels overlooking the park, which are currently housing asylum seeker; The County Hotel where Gomaa is satying is the large building on the far right,

The panicking woman said she tried to appear friendly to the man, who was dressed in a tracksuit, but told him: 'i don't want sex, I don't want sex'.

She said he handed her a vial of liquid 'like a test tube but smaller', before he kissed her and climbed on top of her.

'She was in no position to fight him off', Mr Stockwell said.

'This was rape, pure and simple'.

The jury also heard a statement from a dog walker who found the alleged rape victim in Tower Gardens.

Chantelle Moses said: 'I could see a woman crouched down holding onto the park railings.

I walked over to her and I could see she was already on the phone to the police.

'I asked her 'what was wrong?' She said she had been raped in the park.'

A statement was also read from a police officer who arrived at the scene and found the alleged rape victim 'intoxicated.'

'She kept saying she had been raped by an illegal immigrant in the bushes in Tower Gardens,' the officer said.

Jurors heard the officer asked the woman to enter Tower Gardens and show him where the incident occurred but she refused, saying 'he might still be in there.'

Gomaa, of Skegness, denies rape.

The trial continues.

FranceThe Home Office[3][4]

References

1. ^ Andy Dolan (www.dailymail.co.uk)
2. ^ Gomaa allegedly attacked the woman (www.dailymail.co.uk)
3. ^ France (www.dailymail.co.uk)
4. ^ The Home Office (www.dailymail.co.uk)