Egyptian asylum seeker jailed for Hyde Park rape was convicted terrorist

Abdelrahmen Adnan Abouelela, 42, was found guilty in his absence of being part of a bomb-making cell in Egypt and was given a seven-year jail sentence on May 5, 2015.

Abouelela, a member of the radical Muslim Brotherhood movement, escaped from Egypt before being convicted.

He arrived in the UK where he claimed asylum and was housed at taxpayer’s expense in a Hilton hotel in London while his application was considered, the Daily Mail reports.

The Home Office took 17 months to make a decision about his asylum application despite reportedly being aware of his bomb-making conviction, before he raped a woman in Hyde Park last November.

He apparently first claimed asylum in Turkey after fleeing Egypt, being detained for at least 72 days at Ataturk airport in Istanbul.

He went on to leave Turkey and claimed asylum when he arrived in the UK in April 2023, saying he would face persecution if he was returned to Egypt.

The Muslim Brotherhood is regarded as a terror organization in many countries, although it is not banned in the UK.

The Metropolitan Police yesterday released a picture of Abouelela after pressure from media outlets.

The married father-of-one approached the victim as she was walking home alone from a night out in central London at about 9pm and lured her to a secluded spot in the park where he raped her, Southwark Crown Court was told on Tuesday.

His address was given in court as a Hilton hotel in Ealing, west London, which is being used to house migrants, according to reports. 

“You thought absolutely nothing of her,” Judge Gregory Perrins told the defendant, whose address was given as a Hilton hotel in Ealing, west London.

“It must have been obvious to you that she was a woman under the influence of alcohol who was alone and vulnerable. You made the decision to take advantage of her vulnerability.