Syrian refugee who pretended to help lost, drunk woman jailed after sexually assaulting her in park

The 46-year-old posed as a Good Samaritan, taking the woman's hand and offering to help her.

However, Ibrahim then kissed her, grabbed her breasts and put his hand down her trousers, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

The attack took place in a park in North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear.

"It was dark, and this park was out of the way, and there was nobody else present, Judge Robert Adams said, according to Chronicle Live.

"She was drunk and alone with you. As she became concerned and stood up to leave, you grabbed her, kissed her and grabbed her breasts.

"You put your hands down her trousers and (sexually assaulted her)."

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:

• Council rules St George's flags to remain in place unless they pose 'safety risk'
• Albanian criminal allowed to stay in Britain as relationship with wife might 'dwindle away'
• Muslim mayor tells Christian man he's 'not welcome' in US city

The victim successfully pushed her attacker off and ran to a stranger's home, where she explained what had happened to her and the police were called.

Ibrahim had come to Britain in 2016 through a Syrian refugee resettlement scheme, the court heard.

Officers successfully identified the attacker on CCTV, and he was arrested and questioned, though he denied wrongdoing.

He was later found guilty at court of one count of sexual assault.

Last week, Ibrahim was sentenced to five years in prison.

He was also put on the Sex Offenders' Register for life.

In a victim impact statement, the woman said: "I am very cautious about who I speak to in general, but I feel I have been forced to put a barrier up now and have had panic attacks in public since this incident making me feel extremely vulnerable whilst out in public alone.

"Because this was a stranger offence, I am worried I will bump into the suspect.

"I have not been sleeping properly and have been suffering from nightmares regularly.

"These nightmares got worse over the week leading up to court.

"I have had trouble maintaining friendships with male friends, people I should be able to trust.

"My mind wanders all the time, questioning if I am safe in other peoples’ company. I am really struggling to come to terms with what happened to me."

A Northumbria Police spokesman said: "We want to praise the victim in this case who trusted police by making that first report and allowed us to act for her and bring her attacker to justice.

"We hope the outcome sends a clear message to others who may consider committing these types of crimes – we won’t tolerate this it and we will do everything we can to put you before the courts."