by A jealous student and her friends kidnapped an innocent woman before driving her to a secluded area and assaulting her.
Best friends Nadia Gubran and Alya Dahshan, both 21 years old, attempted to kidnap the victim, who Gubran suspected was exchanging Snapchat messages with a man she was interested in. They recruited another woman, Layla Obad, 20, to help carry out the horrific ambush. .
The gang tracked the 23-year-old victim to her workplace on the evening of March 21 last year, before following her in a Volkswagen Golf Gubran as she made her way down Hartington Road, Liverpool. They grabbed her from behind and pulled her hood over her face before dragging her into the car and pinning her to the back seat. Her phone was seized and Gubran questioned her, forcing her to hand over her PIN, the Liverpool ECHO reports.
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Opening the case at Liverpool Crown Court on April 18, prosecutor Michael Scholes said: “Gubran was particularly aggressive, calling her a sket and a slag, and warned her that she shouldn’t associate with Arabs, as well as questioning her about the nature of her relationship with a man named Sol, with whom she was in contact.
“Gubran was described as being aggressive and intimidating towards the victim, threatening that she knew where she lived and that there were people in the area who would be watching her.”
They drove to a secluded, wooded area near Sefton Park Palm House, where the victim was pushed into the bushes and punched and kicked in the head by Gubran and Dahshan. The two women then fled the scene, leaving behind Obad, who apologized to the victim before also running away.
The three women wept in the dock as mobile phone footage of the attack, taken by Dahshan, was played in court. In it, the victim was seen on the ground in a wooded area, holding her hands up as she was repeatedly punched and kicked.
One of the attackers could be heard shouting at her: “Yes, yes, yes, f*** off. Chatting s***. Next time don’t mess with the Arabs, okay. D *** one. Look at the camera and say it, you won’t mess with the Arabs.”
Two other videos were also played, taken at an earlier stage, which showed the victim face down on the back seat of the car, being punched by Gubran.
After the horrific ordeal, the victim sought help from a random passerby, who called a taxi to take her home. She called the police, and when officers attended her home she used her tablet to try to deactivate the missing mobile phone. It was then that she noticed she had an Instagram message from a man saying he had found her phone in Sefton Park.
The man, James Galvin, was found and told police he had been contacted by Obad, who told him she had “done something terrible” and begged him for help in returning the victim’s phone. Mr Scholes said: “It is clear that he had no knowledge of what had happened. As a result, the police were able to trace Layla Obad, and subsequently find the other participants, who were also arrested.”
Gubran, a real estate student, initially maintained her innocence, claiming she was at university at the time of the attack. However, messages found on her phone, sent on March 20 and 21, showed that she and Dahshan planned the kidnapping, discussing how they could force the victim into the car. One message read: “Gloves. Bally (balaclava). Go find a perfect position. We’re hunting her down, grab her from behind, and we need someone to hold her in the back.”
All three women eventually pleaded guilty to false imprisonment, and appeared in court on Friday (April 26) for sentencing.
Jo Maxwell, defending Gubran, said: “She regrets her actions and that event and it is something she would not want to be involved in again.
“She was 20 years old at the time and is still finding her way in the world. She has a tight loving family and is horrified by her actions, as is she. She tries to improve her qualities; she has already done some of them. She is someone who has helped the community a lot and wants to take care of her family in the future by looking for a well-paying job. She is not able to complete that course and will have to. the two years she has done so far to reset.”
She described Gubran as “immature” with an “inability to solve problems properly”, but Judge David Aubrey KC said: “She is an intelligent woman. She is in her second year at university. She knows, of course, the difference between right and wrong.
Eve Salter, defending Dahshan, said: “The defendant was 19 at the time. Although it has not been submitted to excuse her behaviour, it has been suggested that she was immature and naive at the time. but she herself got caught up with her friends and did actions that are completely regrettable.”
She said Dahshan, an early childhood studies student, had previously been of good character, and asked the judge to suspend her sentence, as time in prison would “disrupt her whole life with including the possibility of losing her university job.”
Carmel Wilde, defending Obad, said the 20-year-old nursing student had shown genuine remorse for her actions, apologizing to the victim and making a full admission to police. She called attention to the video, in which Obad could be heard shouting “girls, stop” in Arabic as Gubran and Dahshan punched and kicked the victim.
She said: “She is very upset that she could lose her freedom, her career and her family. Character references show a caring side to Obad; she is described as hard-working, motivated, friendly and loving.”
Sentencing, Judge Aubrey said: “I am satisfied that this was a premeditated, premeditated attack by you, Gubran, and you, Dahshan, on an innocent woman who was literally cornered off the street in a car against her will and in after that. attack.
“You got someone else to help you, Layla Obad. Your victim didn’t know any of you, which could have made her anxiety and humiliation worse.”
He said Gubran was “the main instigator, instigator, and protagonist” of the kidnapping, and that Dahshan was heavily involved. He accepted that Obad was not involved in the planning and did not take part in the attack on the victim in the woods, and expressed “sincere remorse and deep sympathy for the victim”.
He said: “In the case of Gubran and Dashan, I have come to the conclusion that no sentence other than immediate custody is appropriate. In the case of Obad, taking into account your role and guilt, the balance is in favor of the change suspended sentence.”
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Nadia Gubran, of Bonchurch Drive, Wavertree, was sentenced to 20 months in prison
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Alya Dahshan, of Spindle Close, Everton, was sentenced to 16 months in prison
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Layla Obad, of Railbrook Hey, Old Swan, was sentenced to 14 months in a young offenders institution, suspended for 18 months. She was also ordered to carry out 140 hours of unpaid work.
