Locations
Erskine Street, Liverpool, L6
Description
A pervert who groped a woman on the dancefloor of a Liverpool city centre bar grinned as he walked free from court.
Abdullah Alqahtani's smug smirk mimicked one he gave his victim after brazenly sexually assaulting her in Baa Bar on Fleet Street having consumed a cocktail of booze and sleeping tablets. His victim said she has been "profoundly affected" by what she described as a "traumatic incident" and a "horrible experience".
Liverpool Magistrates' Court heard yesterday afternoon, Wednesday, that the complainant had been in the nightclub with friends in April this year and was stood on the dancefloor at around 3.30am when she "felt a finger touch her bum cheek and flick out, lifting her skirt". Andrew Page, prosecuting, described how she then turned around and saw Alqahtani walking away while "staring back and grinning".
She followed and confronted him, but he initially denied that he had assaulted her. When pressed, the 21-year-old replied: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it won't happen again."
Alqahtani, of Erskine Street, then began repeating: "I don't speak English. I'm sorry."
The woman subsequently walked back to her friends, who said they had in fact heard him speaking English. She threw her empty plastic cup at the defendant at this and informed security staff of the incident.
Police attended the scene and found that the incident had been caught on CCTV. Alqahtani told detectives under interview after being arrested that he was "drunk" and had taken two sleeping pills, "which led to him being disorientated".
He described the bar as being "crowded" and said he had "never seen the female before in his life". When shown the video footage, the sex offender "accepted that it looked like his arm and hand moved towards her bottom" but said it was "not a deliberate act" and was merely "an accident".
A statement read out to the court on the victim's behalf said: "My confidence has been profoundly affected by this traumatic incident. I had no idea of the horrible experience I would suffer that evening.
"I should have felt safe and secure while spending time with my friends and boyfriend, however I became the victim of a malicious act perpetrated by a man who showed a blatant disregard for my autonomy, consent and dignity. The emotional turmoil from this assault has had far reaching consequences.
"What happened has affected what I choose to wear when I'm in public. I now question my sense of safety and security when out socialising with friends, and I've been left with a sense of anxiety."
Alqahtani has no previous convictions. Benjamin Squirrell, defending, told the court that his client had finished a degree in his home country of Saudi Arabia before coming to the UK in order to "better his English" on a visa which has less than two weeks to run.
He now plans to return to the Middle East and work in a hospital laboratory. Mr Squirrell added: "The defendant, through me, does wish to tender a fulsome apology.
"It does appear he apologised when confronted in the club, and subsequently his reaction was immature. The complainant said in her evidence that he seemed to be laughing at her, and that seemed to be the spur for her taking matters further.
"It seems there is some lesson learned. It seems he doesn't go out in public very often, certainly not to nightclubs, and he has reduced his drinking to a low level.
"He was actually trying to go to sleep and took the sleeping pills, and then was asked to go out by friends. He wasn't intending to go out that night, and deeply wishes he hadn't.
"He has clearly realised he overstepped the mark and behaved in a despicable way. He is still a young man with a future."
Alqahtani, who was assisted by an interpreter in the dock, was found guilty of sexual assault after a trial before magistrates. He was handed an 18-week imprisonment suspended a year, told to pay £750 in compensation - to be paid before his visa expires on September 12 - and told to sign the sex offenders' register for seven years.
Sentencing, District Judge Timothy Boswell said: "You were in Baa Bar and you had had too much to drink. You put your hand up the skirt of a woman and touched her bottom.
"I can put it no better than she does. You showed a complete disregard for her autonomy, consent and dignity.
"You have offered an apology for the impact of your actions. But it is plain from the fact that you tried to pass it off as an inadvertent accident that you do not accept full responsibility for your actions."