'Disturbing' Afghan who sexually assaulted woman in street faces deportation after jail
The asylum seeker was found by a passer-by sexually assaulting a woman after she fell asleep on a bench.
An Afghan asylum seeker who sexually assaulted a woman as she slept will be deported after serving his two-year jail term. Abid Sherzad, 25, targeted his victim after meeting her in a pizza shop late at night near London Bridge.
Sherzad paid for the woman’s food before she left to eat it on a bench but fell asleep. The victim told the court she “didn't give him any impression that I was consenting whatsoever.” Prosecutor Shagana Joseph told the court that the victim was woken by Sherzad kissing her and touching her around her face, chest and neck.
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The attack only came to an end after a passerby saw what was happening and shouted, “What are you doing?”
The passer-by attempted to film the attacker, but Sherzad hid his face with a pizza box as he fled.
He was later identified by his DNA and convicted at an Old Bailey trial.
Judge Philip Katz said the refugee had “a disturbing attitude to women”.
He added: “It is pretty much inevitable that you will be deported at the end of your sentence.”
Judge Philip Katz said: “You realised the complainant in this case was obviously under the influence of drink and very tired.”
“You started chatting to her and asked her who she was and where she was going to.
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“What you were doing was grabbing her and kissing her breasts. Her jacket was undone. You removed her tights and her skirt was up to her hips.
“You have shown no remorse whatsoever for what you did. This was a sustained assault in a public street in the early hours of the morning.”
Sherzad had been staying at a hotel in Oxford, funded by the taxpayer, after arriving in the UK nine months prior to the attack, claiming that his life was in danger in Afghanistan due to his father's work with the government.
The judge ordered that Sherzad should stay on the sex offenders register for life.
