Abdelrahmen Adnan Abouelela, 42, has been jailed for raping a woman in Hyde Park in November 2024. He was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court in May 2025 to eight and a half years for the attack on a woman walking home alone after a night out.
The case has sparked renewed scrutiny of the UK asylum system after it emerged that Abouelela had previously been convicted in absentia in Egypt for involvement in a Muslim Brotherhood cell accused of plotting attacks on electricity pylons and gas pipelines. His earlier conviction, combined with questions about whether UK authorities were aware of it when he sought asylum in 2023, has raised concerns over intelligence-sharing and security checks.
