Mariam Moustafa: Two girls spared jail term after attack on Egyptian student

Two “violent” girl gang members have been spared jail after teaming up to repeatedly punch an Egyptian student who later died.

Mariam Moustafa suffered a stroke which left her in a coma after the attack “over a boy” on 20 February last year.

She died almost a month later, but pathologists could not “legally link” the attack with her death, Nottingham Crown Court heard.

Mariah Fraser, 20, Britania Hunter, 18, and a 16-year-old girl, who cannot be named, admitted they were part of a “pack” of girls who confronted Ms Moustafa in a row “fuelled by social media”.

Fraser was ordered to spend eight months in a young offenders’ institution for her part in the attack, after a catalogue of her previous convictions were read to the court, including robbery, attempted robbery and assaulting a police officer.

Hunter was given a 12-month community order and told to carry out 40 hours of unpaid work, and the 16-year-old girl was remitted back to youth court with a view to a referral order.

Despite branding the defendants “aggressive” and “cowardly”, sentencing judge Gregory Dickinson QC decided not to send them to prison, saying: “The family of Mariam want the maximum possible sentence to be imposed on all those involved in the case.

“Sympathy for their desperate sadness cannot displace a proper, dispassionate approach to sentencing in a court of law.”

Mariam was punched several times during the attack near a bus stop in Parliament Street, Nottingham, while her friend, Pablo Jawara, tried to protect her.

Six attackers were charged after the incident, including three other teenagers aged 18, 17 and 16, who will be sentenced later this month.

Fraser, Hunter and the 16-year-old girl all admitted affray a week before their trial.

Mariam’s father, Mohamed Moustafa, described the charge of affray at the time as “very stupid, very weak”, and “not strong enough”.

He added: “It’s unfair and unjust to charge those whom killed or, at least by their actions, led to (Mariam’s) death with such minor offences.

“It is very weak. It is not fair at all. Affray – it’s nothing.”

The court heard how two of the six attackers, the 16-year-old girl and an 18-year-old who will be sentenced later this month, were the main aggressors in the altercation, while the others were either filming the incident or laughing while watching events unfold.

Passing sentence, Gregory Dickinson QC said: “It is important that everyone with an interest in this sad case should understand that the three defendants are to be dealt with for the offence of affray.

“They were not charged with murder or manslaughter. They are to be sentenced on the basis that their actions, individually and collectively, did not cause the death of Mariam Moustafa.

“This was not an attack motivated by hostility to race or religion. It was to do with a boy.”

The judge continued: “This was a confrontation. Shouting, abuse, threats and finally violence. All in one direction.

“There is a natural, strong suspicion that the stroke was brought on by the actions of the defendants.

“The conclusion was that it could not be proved that there was a causative link between the actions of the defendants and the stroke.”

(c) Sky News 2019: Mariam Moustafa: Two girls spared jail term after attack on Egyptian student