The victim was walking home from a nightclub when “predatory” Fawaz Alsamaou pounced
Fawaz Alsamaou, of Huddersfield, has been jailed for sexually assaulting a woman in Cardiff(Image: South Wales Police )
An asylum seeker followed a woman out of a nightclub before grabbing her around the neck and sexually assaulting her.
Fawaz Alsamaou, 33, of Swan Lane, Lockwood, Huddersfield, was visiting Cardiff when he followed the woman who was walking home after a night out on May 12 last year. Alsamaou grabbed her by the neck and sexually assaulted her beneath a railway bridge.
The terrified woman managed to push Alsamaou and escape, a court heard. After conducting CCTV enquiries, police identified the attacker as Alsamaou following an appeal on BBC Crimewatch and he was arrested in Huddersfield, where he had been living as an asylum seeker since arriving in the UK from Syria.
In a statement, the woman said the attack had left her feeling unsafe.
She said: “The attack that happened on me has had a lasting effect on me to this day and I still think about it every day.
“Now I feel that I am looking over my shoulder more and always thinking the worst. I don’t feel safe going anywhere by myself and still I don’t feel safe now when it is dark outside.
“I want the male responsible for the attack to serve justice. Not only so I can have closure from the incident but to ensure that this doesn’t happen to any other females in the future.”
Alsamaou admitted sexual assault and intentional strangulation.
David Pinnell, for the defendant, told Newport Crown Court that, despite his client’s guilty pleas, Alsamaou wasn’t accepting he was guilty of the offences and this had made mitigating for him very difficult. Mr Pinnell said his client would be deported at some point due to the conviction.
During sentencing, Judge Celia Hughes said: “It was a horrible attack on a woman alone at night in Cardiff. She was entitled to walk home alone at night without being attacked by you, a predatory man. You say that you’re a practising Muslim but your behaviour that night casts doubt on the practise of your faith.
“It must have been a petrifying incident for her and had lasting impact on her life.”
Alsamaou was jailed for three years and one month.
The judge added: “You are highly likely to be deported after you have served your sentence.”
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