Oxford rapist who fled to Iraq is jailed for 13 years

Salam Karis, 35, was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on Friday after an incident at a towpath near Hythe Bridge Street on January 19, 2014.

The court heard he fled the country after being granted bail, and only returned to the UK in a small boat from Iraq in July last year.

He was convicted by a jury of three counts of rape at a trial earlier this year of raping the woman after they had been at The Bridge Nightclub and Anuba which was part of the same set-up.

The court heard the woman had been visiting a friend in Oxford at the time of the incident after travelling up from Brighton.

The woman told the jury that her friend had just turned 18 and they were planning to go out.

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After being given drinks at the club by Karis and others, she was led away from the club towards the canal towpath and a wooded area and raped.

The victim, now 32, read out an impact statement in court. She said: “I was driven two hours in a police car to a rape crisis centre in Milton Keynes.

“The examination was deeply humiliating. I felt like a lab rat. I’m haunted by the memory of the forensic examination.

“I could not have imagined justice would take this long. After the incident I was emotionally derailed and emotionally unstable.

“I’ve always been a very strong woman. Despite this, I have suffered with vulnerability.

Salam Karis (Image: TVP)

“For years, I have experienced random panic attacks. The defendant skipped bail and fled the country illegally.

“Bail should never have been given in the first place, the justice system failed me. I have spent 12 years trying to heal from something that should never have happened.

“I hope justice will prevail.”

The court heard that Karis initially came to the UK when he was 17 in 2008 from war-torn Iraq. Also that he has no previous convictions.

In mitigation, that court heard that Karis continues to deny that the offences were committed by him, but was sorry for the impact on the victim.

The Bridge (Image: Google Street View)

Judge Maria Lamb said: “12 years ago, in the dark and in the rain on a towpath by the canal, you raped the victim.

“You were convicted unanimously of your crimes. She was able to say ‘no’ and she said it more than once and you ignored her.

“It’s clear the impact on her has been devastating. You ran away to escape the consequences of your crimes.

“She has suffered from severe psychological harm.”

Karis was jailed for 13 years and given an indefinite restraining order to not contact the victim.

He was also put on the sex offenders’ register for life.