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A man who raped a woman in the centre of York has been jailed.
Eid Anwar Fathi Najjar, 21, an Egyptian national of no fixed address but living in York at the time, was jailed for eight years when he appeared at York Crown Court on 2 February 2026.
Najjar previously pleaded guilty to rape and sexual assault on 30 October after an overwhelming amount of evidence left him with no choice.
On 6 July 2025, the victim was on a night out with friends in York when Najjar singled her out and approached her. At one point he was warned by door security staff to keep away from her after his sexual and predatory behaviour raised concerns.
While door-staff were distracted, he lured the victim out of the club and into an alleyway where he raped her.
The woman was found in a distressed state by two passing members of the public who flagged down a police officer.
Although the victim could not initially recall what had happened, it soon became clear that she was the victim of a serious sexual assault and an investigation was launched to find the suspects as a matter of urgency.
An intense investigation followed involving over 20 officers that led detectives to quicky identify Najjar as the suspect along with another man who he called to the scene of rape. They were both arrested a short time later.
Najjar denied the offences during police interviews claiming that the woman he had preyed upon had consented.
However, the extensive investigation proved that she could not have consented and both CCTV, witness testimony, phone data and forensic evidence put Najjar at the scene and proved that he was the rapist, leaving him no choice but to plead guilty. In total the investigation resulted in officers processing 191 clips of CCTV footage, taking 90 witness statements and producing or seizing 183 exhibits.
Najjar was remanded in custody following his arrest and charged with rape and sexual assault on 10 July and appeared in court the following day. He has been in custody ever since.
The charges against a co-defendant who was also arrested at the time of the offence, were withdrawn after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) determined that the evidential test for prosecution against him was no longer met.
Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Superintendent Fionna McEwan of North Yorkshire Police’s Major Investigation Team, said:
“Najjar is a sexual predator and a danger to women and is now rightly behind bars.
“My thanks go to the victim for her bravery and support of the investigation after being subjected to such a horrific ordeal.
“I would also like to thank the members of the public who took care of the victim after the attack and supported the investigation, and the numerous members of door staff who provided witness evidence and made attempts to prevent Najjar from targeting women.
“Rape and sexual assault have far-reaching and long-lasting effects on survivors and everyone in society must challenge predatory and sexualised behaviour when they see it.
“All women must be able to enjoy a night out without worrying about the entitled behaviour of predatory men.
“I urge anyone If you are a victim of rape or sexual assault, no matter when it happened, please come forward. You will be listened to and all reports will be fully investigated. Even if the incident was a long time ago and it is not possible to convict the offender, you will still be offered all of the support services that are available to victims of abuse.”