A man who claimed he was persecuted for being bisexual after arriving in the UK on a small boat raped a woman at a hostel. Iraqi national, Yousif Al-Maliki, 31, subjected an Indian student to a vile attack after the pair went for drinks in Soho, London, last year.

The two of them were being housed at the Astor Hostel in South Kensington on August 1, 2025. Al-Maliki was seeking asylum, claiming he was fleeing torture in Iraq because he was bisexual. He had arrived in the UK on a small boat in September 2024, having previously been deported.

The woman reported him to the police on August 2 and he was charged. Prior to that she had not told anyone what happened as she was worried she would be thrown out of the hostel. Sharing a bed was against the rules.

Al-Maliki had told police after his arrest that the woman wanted to have sex with him.

Judge Christopher Hehir, sentencing Al-Maliki, said he met the woman just a few hours before raping her.

He said: "The problem was you were not prepared to take no for an answer. Throughout the hours that preceded the rape I am sure that your intention was to have sex with her.

"You decided to have sex with her come what may, whether she consented or not."

The judge said the woman had made it clear she didn't want to have sex, but eventually stopped saying anything and "effectively zoned out".

Judge Hehir said when the woman told Al-Maliki she bled because of the rape, the defendant's only response was to laugh at her.

He told Al-Maliki he was not sorry at all, despite instructing his lawyer to say that he was. The judge added: "You are sorry that you have been convicted and that you are going to prison."

Jurors at Southwark Crown Court found Al-Maliki guilty of one count of rape, but he was cleared of assault by penetration and sexual assault.

He was jailed for six and a half years and will be subject to notification requirements for life. Judge Hehir warned him he could be deported after serving his sentence, The Sun reports.

The judge said the length of his sentence made him automatically liable for deportation, but that would be a matter for the Government and not him.

He added: "I simply observe that you are a convicted rapist, and that I cannot conceivably see how it is in the public interest for you to remain in the country if you can be deported elsewhere."