A man who admitted dragging a young woman into a car then raping her with his friend has been jailed for eight and a half years.

Liban Hussein Mohamud was one of four men who bundled the 21-year-old woman into a car near Independence Monument in Floriana as she was walking home in the early hours of the morning. 

The Italian woman had been out in Paceville with her brother, his girlfriend and a relative in March 2013.

A Kia Mentor stopped alongside her and one of the strangers got out and dragged her into the car. Another snatched her phone as she tried to dial for help. 

One of the four men refused to go along with the plan and leapt out of the car. 

Some time later, as the car stopped at the Addolorata cemetery traffic lights, the woman tried to escape. But one of her kidnappers grabbed her by the neck and told her, in broken Italian, “Italian, you're dead!”

They eventually parked the car at an abandoned site at Ħal Far. As they talked among themselves, the woman handed over a ring, thinking that the men wanted to rob her. 

Two of the men then raped her inside the car. The third refused to join in.

When they finally let her go, the dazed and shocked woman went to Ħal Far factory, where a watchman called for help. 

The culprits were eventually tracked down and brought to justice.

During a sitting last month, Mohamud, a Somali national who was one of the two rapists, pleaded guilty to violent rape, unlawful arrest, use of force, aggravated theft as well as driving without a licence and insurance cover. 

On Wednesday he was jailed for eight years and six months and ordered to pay a €2329 fine.

The sentence was given in view of a plea-bargaining exercise between the Attorney General and the defence and upon the accused’s admission.

Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera presided.