Description
Umair Farooq made up an excuse that he was ''checking on her'' after he had watched the victim and her friend from the hotel bar.
A vulnerable woman says she has lost her ''smile and happiness'' after she was sexually assaulted by a stranger after he let himself into her hotel room. Umair Farooq, 42 is said to have watched two women who were staying in the room earlier that night at the hotel bar and made them both feel ''uncomfortable'' before the victim left her friend go to bed herself.
Farooq found a way into to the room and made up an excuse that he was ''just checking on her'' and that the key was in the door when challenged by the victim's friend, Wales Online reports. In an emotional impact statement, the victim said that her attacker had robbed her of her ''smile and happiness'' and that she ''can't get his face out of my head or his hands off my body'' after the terrifying assault.
She had travelled to North Wales with her friend earlier this year and they stayed at the hotel where the assault took place in Denbighshire on October 13. They noticed Farooq, from Rangpura in Sialkot, Pakistan whose behaviour was disturbing them as he appeared to watch them sitting outside having a drink from a distance.
The court heard that they left shortly after for another pub and returned to the hotel at around 10pm. The complainant, who felt unwell, was put to bed by her friend. Prosecutor Simon Rogers told the court that the woman was woken up a short while later to find Farooq, who had got his hands on a key and entered the room, in the middle of assaulting her.
The woman pushed him away and ran to her friend, and the matter was reported to the police. When confronted at the reception desk, Farooq told the victim's friend he was “just checking on her” and that the key was in the door. He then told the woman: "I’m Muslim, I wouldn’t do that."
After his arrest, the defendant told an officer at St Asaph's custody suite that he “did not know what was allowed here in Britain" and claimed to have thought it was OK to open the door and go into the victim’s room. He later admitted to an assault by penetration and trespass with intent to commit a sexual offence.
In a victim impact statement, the complainant branded Farooq a "monster". Looking towards him in the dock, she said that "no sentence will ever be enough" and that she "didn’t deserve this". The mum added: "I don’t get how this happens in a quiet hotel in Wales.
''I can’t get his face out of my head or his hands off my body. No matter how many baths I have, he’s still on me.
''I feel like I’ve lost myself to a man and I don’t even know who he is or his name. He took my smile and happiness."
Simon Mintz, defending, told the court that there was little he could say to minimise the "wholly uncharacteristic" actions of his client. He told the judge that Farooq is a respected businessman with a wife and four children who rely on him in Pakistan.
Mr Mintz added that there would be "extra difficulties" for the 42-year-old in a UK prison, including language barriers and being kept "a world apart” from his family for some years. Judge Rhys Rowlands said it had been an "utterly terrifying experience" for the woman and that he could not ignore the trauma Farooq caused when he assaulted his victim.
He was jailed for four and a half years and was listed on the sex offender register for life. The judge said: "Understandably the effect on the victim has been quite profound, both on the night as described in the victim personal statement and it is plain for the court to see on this day some five months later.
"Many aspects of her everyday life remain affected. She was vulnerable but that didn’t stop you for one moment when trying to take advantage of her."
Following the sentencing Detective Inspector Emma Gardner said it "sends a clear message that we as a force, and society in north Wales will not tolerate any acts of this nature. I would like to pay tribute to the victim for their bravery throughout this legal process and encourage anyone who is subject to any similar type of incident to report it to us at the earliest opportunity.
"Your complaint will be dealt with in confidence, investigated thoroughly and you will be offered the necessary support. We remain committed to making north Wales the safest place in the UK."