An asylum seeker from Afghanistan was today sentenced to an 18 month community order for sexually assaulting a woman in Watford.
Fared Amire, aged 25, must also complete 200 hours of unpaid work, register as a sex offender for five years and attend 30 days of rehabilitation. He has been barred from contacting his victim for three years.
He was convicted by jury at St Albans Crown Court of one count of sexual assault on a female after a retrial after the first jury could not agree. He was found not guilty of two other charges of sexual assault, namely kissing his victim and touching her breast.
The court heard that Amire, calling himself Peter, was working on a market stall and had met his 24-year-old victim, who was working nearby, upon which they exchanged phone numbers and begun to text each other.
On Friday, February 8 2019, he bumped into her and went for coffee, with her having told him she wanted to look around the town shops. Amire asked to join her, but said he needed to collect something from his flat.
Upon entering the flat, he pulled his victim down, bit her lip and sucked her face, as stated by prosecutor Louis Mahel.
In a personal statement, the victim stated she had since quit her job and no longer felt safe going into Watford.
Detective Constable Marius Edghill, from the Watford Local Crime Unit, said: “I would like to start by commending the bravery and resilience of the victim in this case, as not only has she waited three years for her case to come to trial, but she has been forced to give evidence in court twice.
“Amire lured her back to his room under false pretences, knowing full well what he was planning to do. The few text messages exchanged between the pair were not suggestive or sexual in any way, and at no point had the victim indicated to the defendant that she was romantically attracted to him.
“The victim trusted Amire and had no reason to expect anything untoward may happen. This is all on Amire – quite simply, he saw an opportunity to exploit the situation for his own sexual gain and he took it.”
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