Sex attack on woman as she danced in Leeds city centre bar

A PERVERT humiliated a woman by sexually assaulting her as they danced on a podium in a Leeds city centre bar in full view of horrified onlookers, a court heard.
Ayman Abdelgadir.Ayman Abdelgadir.
Ayman Abdelgadir.

Ayman Abdelgadir was jailed for three years, four months after a judge told him he had degraded the victim in a terrible way.

Leeds Crown Court was shown footage of bouncers removing the 35-year-old from the stage in Yates’s after being alerted by shocked members of the public.

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Dave Mackay, prosecuting, said people in the bar initially thought it was funny and some used mobile phones to film Adbelgadir and the woman dancing after he approached her and began “gyrating” behind her.

The court heard Abdelgadir, a business and economics graduate, danced with the woman for around ten minutes. They were both described as being “extremely drunk”.

Mr Mackay said: “He was lifting her off the floor and swinging her around and her legs were going in the air. She appeared to be going along with the dancing.”

Mr Mackay said the incident took a sinister turn after a smoke machine was turned on.

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The CCTV footage showed onlookers reacting with shock as Abdelgadir grabbed the woman’s breast and put his hand up her skirt before carrying out the sex assault.

Mr Mackay added: “Those watching it saw her demeanour change. She was standing still and looking dazed and it was clear to those present that he should not have been doing that.”

Abdelgadir, of Lascelles Road West, Harehills, was arrested but refused to comment when interviewed by police. He was later linked to the offence through DNA evidence. He pleaded guilty to a sexual offence.

The court heard Abdelgadir tried to get back into the same bar on Boar Lane on two occasions since the incident but had been refused entry by door staff.

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A victim impact statement was read to the court describing how the 29-year-old woman had suffered stress and struggled to sleep since the attack. She has also lost interest in socialising and feels a compulsion to bathe herself because of her ordeal.

James Littlehales, mitigating, said Abdelgadir was so drunk at the time of the incident that he could not remember what happened. He said: “He just recalls waking up in a police cell.”

He said Adbelgadir did not drink alcohol but had been persuaded to ring in sick at work and go out to celebrate his friend’s birthday on the night of the offence, April 19 last year.

Mr Littlehales said his client was a hard working, educated man who had never been in trouble before and had attended court with his partner of four years.

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He added: “Mr Abdelgadir feels significant remorse for the offence and very sorry if the victim was harmed in any way.”

Judge Tom Bayliss, QC, told Abdelgadir he had humiliated the woman. He said: “Under the pretext of dancing you gradually got close and then you sexually assaulted her in a terrible way.

“All this in front of a club full of people. A club full of people who were there with mobile phones.

“It is difficult to think of a more degrading way to treat a woman but that is what you did.

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“You have shown no remorse in interview and you have twice since tried to get in to the club.”

Abdelgadir was told he must go on the sex offenders register for life and was made the subject of a sexual offences prevention order which bans him from entering Yates’s Bar, on Boar Lane.

After the case, Det Insp Paul Hobson, of Leeds District CID, said: “This was a very brazen sexual attack on a vulnerable victim that was carried out in a public place in full view of other people. The significant sentence he has received demonstrates just how seriously offences of this nature will be treated.

“We have supported the victim throughout the court process and we hope that seeing him brought to justice will provide some reassurance to her.”