Description
A man sexually assaulted a young woman after following her home and entering her flat. Adem Mohammed had encountered his victim on the street and began talking to her as if he knew her.
He then followed her back to the flats where she lived in Swansea and stopped her from shutting him outside by holding the external door open. The 20-year-old followed the woman to her room and there began kissing her against her will, hugging her, and grabbing her bottom. The attacker left when his victim suffered a panic attack.
Swansea Crown Court heard the young woman was shaken up by the incident and, concerned for the safety of others in the block, alerted her neighbours to what had happened via WhatsApp before contacting police. Carina Hughes, for the prosecution, said the woman did not want to make a victim impact statement for the court to consider.
Detectives launched an investigation into the incident and CCTV was recovered that showed Mohammed's interaction with the woman on the street. Other footage showed him subsequently leaving the area on his cycle. The defendant was identified and arrested, and in interview said he had been looking for girlfriend and had approached the young woman asking for her help. He claimed the woman had invited him back to her flat so he could use the internet, and said she began kissing him - kisses he said he rejected.
Adem Mohammed, of no fixed abode, had previously been convicted at trial of sexual assault when he returned to the dock for sentencing.
Hilary Roberts, for Mohammed, said his client was disappointed at the conclusions of the pre-sentence report and said it may be that some of the meaning of what he had said had been in lost in translation as the interpreter present had spoken a different dialect to the defendant. He said his client had apologised for the upset he had caused and admitted he had "made a great mistake". The barrister claimed that cultural differences between the woman and the defendant - who he said was granted refugee status in the UK in 2021 - may have played its part. Mr Roberts invited the court to find there was little planning to the incident, and it was opportunistic in nature.
Judge Catherine Richards said Mohammed had engaged the woman in conversation and had attempted to persuade her that they knew each other before following her home. She said he had then entered her accommodation despite the woman telling him he was not welcome. Mohammed was sentenced to 21 months detention in a young offenders institution - he will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. The defendant will be a registered sex offender for the next 10 years.