Muhammad Sheikhi 23

Description

Migrant Hotel Resident Convicted of Sexually Assaulting Two Women in Falkirk

Muhammad Sheikhi, 23, a resident at the Cladhan Hotel in Falkirk, has been found guilty of sexually assaulting two women in the space of just over an hour.

The attacks took place in the early hours of a Sunday morning last November, shortly after the victims – both in their early 20s – left different nightclubs.

Sheikhi first targeted a woman at a railway bridge on Kerse Lane, where he hugged her, repeatedly kissed her on the face and mouth, and put his hands under her skirt. He then assaulted a second woman in Kerse Lane and at the nearby Bellsmeadow skatepark, pinning her against a tree before putting his hands under her clothing.

Sheikhi, who entered the UK by boat and was being housed at the Cladhan Hotel by the Home Office, was arrested in his room at the hotel, which has been the scene of repeated pro- and anti-immigration protests.

He denied the charges, telling police he had simply been “roaming around” because he had no one to socialise with in the hotel. He added: “Only animals would do that publicly.”

A third woman was seen on CCTV being approached by Sheikhi but walked away.

Following a four-day trial at Stirling Sheriff Court, a jury of 12 women and three men found him guilty of both sexual assaults. They deleted an allegation – which applied only to the skatepark incident – that the assault was carried out with intent to rape.

Through an Arabic interpreter, Sheikhi told police: “I am just a young man like everybody else who wants to have a good time.”

Prosecutor Jamie Hilland described Sheikhi’s behaviour as “predatory.” He told the jury: “On their evidence, the accused approached both women, he’s tried to give them his phone. He tried to get them to add him on Snapchat. In both cases he’s tried to corner the complainer and he then sexually assaulted both of them.”

Hilland highlighted the distress caused to the victims, noting that one called her father immediately afterwards: “(Her father) said she could hardly talk, she could hardly breathe. It was the point where he was struggling to understand her. She told him she had been sexually assaulted at the railway bridge by a man who put his hand under her skirt and tried to kiss her.”

Defence advocate Paul Keenan reserved mitigation until the sentencing hearing. In his closing speech he argued the evidence was “flawed throughout” and urged the jury to acquit.

Sheikhi has been placed on the sex offenders register and remanded in custody ahead of sentencing on 29 June.