Mariam Moustafa: Two sentenced over gang attack

Two members of a girl gang who attacked a student at a bus stop in a row over a boy have been sentenced.

Mariam Moustafa, 18, fell into a coma after she was punched several times by a "pack" of assailants last February.

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

Mariah Fraser, 20, was given an eight-month sentence and Britania Hunter, 18, given a 12-month community order.

Both previously admitted affray.

A third accused, a 16-year-old girl who cannot be named and also pleaded guilty, was remanded back to the youth court for sentencing.

Six female defendants were charged after Miss Moustafa, an engineering student, was attacked in Nottingham city centre while one of her friends tried to protect her.

They included three other teenage girls aged 18, 17 and 16, who will be sentenced later this month.

During sentencing, Nottingham Crown Court heard the attack was "fuelled by social media".

Opening the facts of the case on Thursday, prosecutor Luke Blackburn said the six were not charged with manslaughter because pathologists could not legally link the attack to Miss Moustafa's death.

The hearing was told Fraser and Hunter were part of a group who filmed the attack on Miss Moustafa and watched as two others, aged 16 and 18, hit her.

Mr Blackburn said footage showed Miss Moustafa, an Egyptian national, looking "frightened, passive and, towards the end, obviously unwell".

Judge Gregory Dickinson QC called the defendants aggressive and cowardly and said: "This was not an attack motivated by hostility to race or religion. It was to do with a boy."

Ch Supt Rob Griffin said: "These girls showed persistent aggression towards Mariam and what was even more disgusting was that there was filming of what happened and this footage was shared on social media."

Miss Moustafa's father, Mohamed Moustafa, said the family had not been informed about a hearing in April where Fraser, Hunter and the 16-year-old admitted affray a week before their trial. The Crown Prosecution Service subsequently apologised.

After the sentencing, he said his family "are not safe in this country".

"I have been doing my best for all of my family - telling them to keep safe, don't do anything wrong in this country, don't attack anyone, but after court today... nobody can protect my family," he said.

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