A teenager has described how she feared she would be killed after being dragged into woodland and raped by a man who had previously successfully challenged efforts to deport him from the UK. Gift Oladele, 24, attacked the young woman as she walked home along an isolated footpath in Wrexham on September 7 last year. The victim said Oladele initially approached her and claimed he was heading in the same direction and would walk with her. He then grabbed her, covered her mouth and forced her into nearby woodland. During the attack, Oladele repeatedly hit and overpowered the teenager, leaving her terrified that she would not survive. She described going into “survival mode” and trying to comply with him because she believed it was her best chance of escaping alive. Following the rape, Oladele told his victim she had been raped by “someone good-looking” and threatened to find her if she reported what had happened. The teenager managed to run home at around 3.30am and immediately told her parents, who contacted police. Officers arrived within minutes and she gave an account of the attack. Oladele was arrested the following day at his cousin’s home. Police subsequently discovered a concealed mobile phone containing searches relating to sexual attacks. Oladele denied rape and sexual assault, claiming the encounter had been consensual, but was convicted following a trial at Mold Crown Court in March. At Caernarfon Crown Court on April 30, he was jailed for 17 years and handed an additional eight-year extended licence period. He was also made subject to an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and a lifetime restraining order. The victim has described the devastating psychological impact of the attack, saying she struggled to eat, experienced panic episodes and reached a point where she felt she “didn’t want to be here anymore”. She said September became the hardest month of her life and that the trauma placed severe strain on her relationships. The case also raised questions over Oladele’s immigration history. Oladele, a Nigerian citizen who was born in Italy, entered the UK legally but remained after his immigration clearance expired in 2014. He had previously been jailed in 2022 following a sexually motivated attack. After that conviction, the Home Office attempted to deport him. Oladele successfully challenged his removal on human rights grounds, relying on Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects the right to respect for private and family life. An immigration tribunal ruled in his favour in 2023 after concluding that deportation would be disproportionate in light of his upbringing in the UK. Two subsequent Home Office challenges were rejected. The teenager’s mother said her daughter “had the right to walk home after a night out without being raped” and criticised Oladele for showing no remorse. Wrexham Chief Inspector Caroline Mullen-Hurst described Oladele as a “dangerous predator” whose victim had been left fearing for her life. She also praised the young woman’s courage throughout the police investigation and subsequent trial. A Home Office spokesperson described the case as “horrific” and said Oladele had rightly received a lengthy prison sentence. The Home Office said more than 70,000 illegal migrants and foreign criminals have been returned since the current Government took office. Support for victims of rape and sexual assault is available 24 hours a day through specialist sexual assault referral services.
Originally published by UKNIP.
