| CHESHIRE POLICE
An Eritrean rapist is back behind bars after he made a bizarre excuse for breaching the conditions of his sentence.
Mebrahtom Abrha, of Grace Road, Ellesmere Port, was jailed for 10 years in 2016, with an additional five-year licence period, after he was convicted of rape in Toxteth, Merseyside.
As part of the sentence, the 36-year-old was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life, with the requirement that he must notify the police of any bank accounts he had access to or was registered for.
However, shortly after his release, police specialists found he had already breached the terms of his sex offenders’ register order, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Abrha, who sought asylum in the UK after absconding from his native Eritrea in East Africa after being conscripted into the army, was visited by officers from the Sex Offenders Management Unit (SOMU) in April.
During the visit, officers examined Abrha’s devices and found two online banking apps on his mobile phone; in a subsequent search, they also found two bank cards on his person, which he had failed to disclose.
When asked about this, Abrha claimed he did not understand the order because English was his second language.
However, he had previously spoken fluent English with probation officers and signed the order document to confirm he understood what was required of him under his release conditions.
He also said he thought he needed to register bank accounts with officers once he had set them up, deposited money into them, and received a bank card, claiming he would have registered them if given the chance.
Constable Jones, of the Sex Offender’s Management Unit at Cheshire Police: “Abrha told police that, despite being handed court order that was to remain active for the remainder of his life, he had not actually read the terms and did not understand what was required of him to keep him out prison.
“He also attempted to justify his actions by claiming he did not know that his banking accounts were active until he had deposited any money into them and was sent a physical card.
“It was this clear breach, paired with the fact that he had only just begun the licence period of his sentence, that resulted in him being promptly arrested and returned to police custody and later charged.
“Sex Offenders Orders are put in place to keep members of the public safe from dangerous offenders, and we treat any breaches with the utmost seriousness and will always take immediate action.”
Abrha was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment on Monday, October 19, after being found guilty of two counts of failing to comply with the requirements of a Sex Offenders Order following a four-day trial at Chester Crown Court.
At his initial sentencing hearing in 2016, Liverpool Crown Court heard how Abrha pursued a woman and then violently raped her in the street in the early hours of July 19, 2015.
The court heard how the woman had been clubbing and was heading to her boyfriend’s house in Toxteth. Unable to find a taxi, she decided to walk the mile-and-a-half route in the rain but did not realise Abrha was following her.
After throwing her to the ground, he raped her twice before “chillingly and casually” walking away and fleeing Liverpool.
Police watched CCTV and, spotting the rapist, traced his movements back to 4am, when he was thrown out of the Modo bar in Concert Square.
He was seen drinking on his own in two bars on Slater Street, then urinating against a wall on Wood Street, before following the woman.
In a victim statement, the woman said: “I felt ashamed, dirty, disgusting and unclean. I felt horrible in myself and always felt exposed, even when I was covered up.
“I love Liverpool but after this I want to get away from Liverpool. I felt after this incident it was now tarnished for me and isn’t the city I first fell in love with.”
Abrha was handed an extended sentence of 15 years after being branded a danger to the public.
He tried to challenge his sentence at the Court of Appeal, in London, arguing it was “excessive”.
But three of the country’s most senior judges rejected his appeal, saying the sentence was justified given his “shocking” crimes.