Three north London men have been jailed for raping a 16-year-old school girl, after one threatened her with a machete, robbed her and held her captive.

Roberto French, 22, Abdisalam Mohamad, 21, and Hilal Mohamed, 22, face a combined prison term of 45 years over the incident which took place in August 2016.

During the trial, which ended on February 6, 2020, jurors heard how the victim had travelled to London from Bristol when French held a machete against her throat while robbing her in front of the other two men.

The 22-year-old then falsely imprisoned her in a residential block in Enfield, where she was forced by the defendants to perform oral sex on each of them.

Once the assault was over, French followed the victim as she attempted to make her escape.

Abdisalam Mohamad and Hilal Mohamed were both sentenced to 14 years each for rape at Wood Green Count Court on Friday.

French was sentenced at the same court to 17 years for rape, five years for robbery and 10 for false imprisonment, to run concurrently.

Judge HHJ Perrins said the victim deserved "significant credit for persevering with this case as the years went by, even when it seemed nothing was happening."

"She has shown real inner strength and resolve in seeing this matter through,” he added.

Met police Detective Sergeant Charlotte Carter, who described the teenager's ordeal as "horrific", praised the sentences for reflecting severity of the offences committed.

She said: "The victim and her family have shown tremendous strength, patience and resilience in supporting a prosecution and I would like to personally thank them for their courage."