A Lewes Crown Court has heard that a man who crossed to Britain aboard a small vessel stored mobile phone recordings as trophies documenting his participation in a group sexual assault.

Abdulla Ahmadi, 26, originally from Iran and of Kurdish ethnicity, faces trial alongside Karin Al-Danasurt, 20, and Ibrahim Alshafe, 25, both Egyptian nationals.

The three men stand accused of sexually assaulting a woman aged 33 after reportedly pulling her onto Brighton’s shoreline in October the previous year. Each has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The court was told that at the time of the alleged offence, the three accused were acquaintances residing at Cisswood House Hotel in Horsham, which functioned as Home Office-designated housing for individuals seeking asylum.

Ahmadi disputed suggestions that he rewatched the recordings to reminisce about the Brighton beach incident.

He told jurors he had no knowledge of the mobile phone footage depicting himself and another man with a woman, whose identity remains subject to reporting restrictions.

Ahmadi claimed he was unaware of the three clips police discovered within a concealed directory on his device.

He told the court nobody else could have used his mobile.

Questioning him, Hanna Llwellyn-Waters asked whether he retained the footage as personal mementos.

He replied that he had not viewed the recordings.

Ahmadi maintained he never watched the videos and had no knowledge of their existence when appearing before the court in Hove.

Forensic examination was conducted on his device after he declined to provide his PIN to officers.

Ahmadi stated he was not aware of any videos.

The prosecutor then asked whether he was watching the footage to relive his experience of sexually assaulting her.

He responded that this was not accurate.

She continued by asking whether the recording was concealed so he could keep it to view privately, perhaps during late-night hours.

He maintained his denial, stating he did not watch it at all.

One of the recordings had been played most recently on the day Ahmadi was taken into custody.

Ms. Llwellyn-Waters observed that even upon his arrest, he was viewing footage of what he and his companions had done to the woman.

He denied this.

Following their return to the accommodation by bus, the three men filmed themselves conducting a barbecue on the hotel premises several hours afterward.

Karin Al-Danasurt was filmed appearing to enjoy a barbecue at the asylum accommodation where he was staying, mere hours after the alleged assault.

Jurors heard that Ahmadi departed the asylum accommodation the day after the woman reported being sexually assaulted on the beach.

He was noted as having gone missing from the Horsham accommodation before subsequently being detained at a location in Crewe, Cheshire.

The court was informed that the first of three recordings had been manually removed from his phone.

Ms. Llwellyn-Waters proposed three possibilities: that he had personally erased it, that he had deleted it because it contained limited footage, and that he had removed it because he was identified in the recording.

Ahmadi replied that he had neither viewed nor erased it.

Ahmadi denies the sexual assault charges.

Earlier, he had informed the jury he was not a sex maniac.

He stated the woman had approached him and his companion after they departed a beachfront nightclub, requesting sexual activity.

According to his account, she guided them to the beach where they engaged in consensual intercourse behind a beach structure.

He denies the sexual assault allegations, maintaining the woman was alert and appeared to be enjoying herself during her encounter with him and his friend, Mr. Alshafe.

Ahmadi testified that the woman expressed desire for sexual intercourse and only threatened to contact authorities after Karin Al-Danasurt struck her and expectorated on her.

Through translation, he explained that he did not continue with sex and was not a sex maniac, and that after witnessing something so repulsive, he no longer felt aroused.

The protected woman gave evidence that after becoming separated from her companions upon leaving the venue after 5am on October 4, she could hardly remain upright.

She told police she was hauled onto the beach and subjected to multiple sexual assaults.

Ahmadi and Alshafe had first met when traversing the Channel from France aboard the same small boat several months prior.

They were staying at the same asylum accommodation as Karin Al-Danasurt.

Ahmadi insisted no coercion was used in taking the woman to the beach and that she had expressed interest in sexual activity with him and his friend.

He claimed she desired it and enjoyed it.

Karin then arrived, and at that moment, he expectorated on her, and I departed. When he expectorated on her, I discontinued sexual activity. In my view, one cannot engage in sex with someone who is not content.

He stated he referred to Al-Danasurt as an animal and physically moved him away.

The sole incident I witnessed that agitated her was his conduct. I found it extremely repulsive. I shoved him, cursed at him, and called him an animal. What he did is not something ordinary individuals would do.

Hanna Llwellyn-Waters KC, representing the Crown, displayed CCTV captured along Brighton’s seafront to the jury, which she argued clearly depicted a vulnerable woman walking unsteadily.

She submitted to the court that the woman appeared to be losing and regaining consciousness.

The woman told police she was pulled onto the beach by malevolent men who have destroyed her existence.

Jurors viewed three video recordings made by Karin Al-Danasurt depicting the other two men engaging in sexual activity with the woman.

He denied urging his companions to sexually assault the woman and distributing the recordings as personal keepsakes.

He told officers he documented three videos of his companions sexually assaulting the woman to compile evidence.

Sussex Police confirmed the woman was attacked at the lower esplanade during the early hours of Saturday, October 4, the previous year.

Ahmadi and Alshafe had crossed to Britain aboard a small boat on June 19.

Ibrahim Alshafe, 25, denies two counts of sexual assault.

Abdulla Ahmadi, 26, also denies two counts of sexual assault.

Karin Al-Danasurt denies four counts of sexual assault and one charge of distributing three video recordings.

Proceedings continue at Lewes Crown Court in Hove.