A young woman broke down in court, recounting the traumatic events of an alleged rape by a Syrian refugee in a beach restroom. She described how she felt paralyzed with fear, comparing her whimpers to those of a frightened puppy during the attack.
The incident occurred in the early hours of July 6, 2025, as the 20-year-old, who remains anonymous for legal reasons, was making her way home along the Bournemouth promenade. It was there she encountered Mohammed Abdullah, then 19, and his group of friends.
During the proceedings at Bournemouth Crown Court, it was revealed that Abdullah had offered the young woman, also 19 at the time, a ride on the back of a rented Beryl bike. She accepted his offer, but the situation quickly turned sinister.
The court heard that Abdullah abruptly halted the bike and forcibly dragged her to a portable toilet located on the seafront.
In her emotional testimony, the woman recounted the distressing ordeal, explaining how she felt utterly powerless and eventually succumbed to the assault. She described Abdullah’s behavior, noting that at one point, he questioned her about her enjoyment, to which she firmly responded no, yet he continued the assault.
At one stage he reportedly asked her ‘you like, you like?’ to which she said no but he carried on regardless.
The woman had been on a night out with friends before they all travelled home separately. She was unable to call a taxi to take her home as her mobile phone had died and so she started walking along the promenade.
After accepting a ride on Abdullah’s bike he is alleged to have pinned her against the outside wall of the toilet where he first sexually assaulted her before he then allegedly raped her inside the toilet.
Pictured: Mohammed Abdullah who allegedly raped and sexually assaulted a young woman, 20, in a portable toilet on Bournemouth promenade
Pictured: Bournemouth promenade. The woman, who was 19 at the time, was walking home along the seafront walkway in the early hours of July 6 last year when she encountered Abdullah and a group of friends
Abdullah has denied rape and sexual assault.
The woman said: ‘I told myself something is going to happen here, I need to remember what I have seen, I just knew something wasn’t right.
‘I remember being pinned. I tried to fight a little bit. I couldn’t really do anything, I was in shock. I was whimpering, like a puppy dog, when you are hurt. I was crying.
‘He said “you like”, obviously I said no but he wasn’t listening.
‘When I realised I wasn’t going to be able to go anywhere I just gave up. I was just hoping it was going to be over.
‘People walked past, I heard people, I tried to say something but nobody paid any attention. My face was towards the wall, I couldn’t turn my face to look.’
Abdullah is then alleged to have bundled her into the portable toilet, locked the door and raped her.
She said: ‘I remember getting my arm grabbed and getting dragged into the portable toilet. He forced me over and lifted my skirt. I just froze.
Pictured: Bournemouth Crown Court where Abdullah is charged with rape and sexual assault – which has denied.
Abdullah allegedly sexual assualted the woman outside the portable toilet. It is claimed he then bundled her into the portable toilet, locked the door and raped her
‘In the toilet I remember he said “you like, you like’” I was saying no. I just allowed it to happen, I thought it would be over quicker that way. I didn’t want to fight back too much and then his friends come. There were more of them than me.
‘I thought just get through this and then you can get out of here and get help.’
Having spent the evening drinking, the complainant said she was vulnerable because she was drunk at the time of the incident.
She told the court: ‘I feel if I had been sober it wouldn’t have happened. I would have been able to protect myself more, push him off me more.
‘I couldn’t do anything, I was drunk, I was in a very vulnerable state. I was walking home by myself, I had no phone.’
Afterwards she described walking away and calling for help but could not see anyone ‘for miles.’
She said: ‘I was walking down the beach shouting hello, I was crying, I was in a bit of a state. I was stressing, I didn’t know how I was going to get help.
She saw an older gentleman and said: ‘For some reason I felt comfortable enough to approach him and asked if I could walk behind him because I was scared. I was in an absolute state by this point.’
The young woman got upset when she was shown the skirt she was wearing on the night, with a tear to the front.
Asked how that damage had happened she said: ‘He lifted my leg quite aggressively and put his hand up my skirt quite aggressively and it was ripped.’
Abdullah, who came to the UK from Syria in 2023 under the family reunion scheme and lives in West Drayton, Middlesex, denies rape and sexual assault.
The trial continues.
