IRANIAN RAPIST DUE FOR DEPORTATION CAUGHT WITH SECRET PHONES IN PRISON CELL
An Iranian rapist serving a lengthy jail sentence at HMP Isle of Wight – and due to be deported upon release – was caught with hidden phones in his prison cell on two occasions within two days.Kasra Esmaelie, 28, of HMP Isle of Wight but formally of Westminster, appeared before the IW Magistrates’ Court on January 23, where he pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing a mobile phone in prison.
The court heard that Esmaelie, an Iranian national, had already been served with deportation papers and was due to be removed from the UK this year.
However, deportation will not take place until he has completed his prison sentences, which will not be until at least 2031.
Prosecutor Serena Edwards told magistrates that Esmaelie was sentenced to 13 years in prison at Reading Crown Court in June 2023 for his role in the kidnap and rape of a woman in Slough on September 3, 2021.
During his sentencing, the court was told the victim was subjected to a “horrendous” attack after Esmaelie and another man injected her with heroin before raping and sexually assaulting her in a public car park.
Ms Edwards added that Esmaelie was also sentenced in 2021 to a concurrent five-year sentence for indecent child image offences.
Following his transfer to the Island’s Parkhurst prison site, a search of Esmaelie’s cell was carried out on July 2 last year, and a mobile phone and charger were discovered inside a false bottom of a drawer.
Two days later, on July 3, officers found another mobile phone concealed in Esmaelie’s cell, inside a night light.
Defending, Henry Martin, stated that his client had complied with the prison searches and had made no attempt to obstruct officers.
He also said Esmaelie admitted possessing the mobile phones on both occasions.
Magistrates sentenced Esmaelie to two eight-week prison terms, to run concurrently with his existing sentences, and ordered him to pay a £157 victim surcharge upon his release, though enforcement is uncertain due to his expected deportation to Iran.
