An asylum seeker has been jailed for raping a teenager he met online within weeks of arriving in the country by small boat.

Kurdish national Mehmet Ogur, who was living at the Holiday Inn Express in Tamworth, forced himself on his 18-year-old victim in the grounds of Tamworth Castle.

He later sent the woman messages saying he was sorry for what he had done.

Ogur was found guilty of rape and attempted rape at Stafford Crown Court last summer after denying any wrongdoing and claiming Google Translate had altered the meaning of the messages.

The 27-year-old, who is a trained veterinary technician, showed no apparent emotion in the dock as he was jailed today for seven years.

It is understood that Ogur was rescued from the English Channel when he came to the UK by small boat last winter.

The Holiday Inn where Ogur was living at the time of his offence was the scene of rioting and arson in August 2024 in the wake of the Southport murders.

He was from Turkey’s Kurdish minority and his family members had been accused of belonging to the militant PKK Kurdish Workers Party.

Stafford Crown Court heard that within weeks of being given shelter at the Holiday Inn in Tamworth, he had met the 18-year-old online and the pair had been out on dates.

Prosecutor Hunter Gray said: ‘There was consensual kissing and cuddling and the messages between them indicated the potential for a more developed relationship.

‘On the fourth occasion they met in the grounds of Tamworth Castle and she made it clear sex was out of the question.

‘There was kissing and cuddling and the defendant started to touch her intimately but she did not want sex as she was on her period.’

Despite her protestations, he forced himself on her.

Mr Gray continued: ‘They left the park together and in texts he apologized for forcing her into sexual activity.’

The victim read a statement to the court today, saying her ordeal with Ogur had ‘completely changed me as a person’.

She said: ‘He took out every part of light I had in me. I quit college and stopped going to the gym and doing the things I loved.

‘I distanced myself from seeing family and friends because I just don’t feel like me anymore.’

Addressing her tormentor, she said: ‘Part of me wishes you would have killed me that night instead, because that way it would have been easier than living with a body you’ve touched.’

Passing sentence, Judge John Edwards told Ogur, who was assisted in court by a Turkish interpreter, that the rape had caused ‘immense harm’ to the victim.

He said: ‘Your continued stay in the United Kingdom will be for others to determine, not for me.’

The judge accepted that Ogur was ‘plainly a man of intelligence’ who had witnessed extreme violence before being ‘grabbed from the middle of the sea’ and arriving in Britain.

The judge praised the young woman’s courage in coming to court and reading out her statement, describing her as ‘naïve’ and ‘easily led’ and said she was ‘anxious to befriend and help you’.

‘You betrayed her trust and the many kindnesses she extended to you,’ the judge said.

‘She clearly cared for you but you were determined to have your way with her.

‘You say you are filled with shame and never intended to cause her harm but, as we have heard from her personal impact statement, you caused her immense harm.’

He ordered that Ogur serve seven years for both the rape and attempted rape to run concurrently.

Joseph McKenna, defending, said Ogur had experienced significant trauma in his life and suffered from depression and anxiety.