Yaaqob Saleh, 20, was sentenced to 12 months after sexually assaulting a customer who entered his Liverpool city centre shop seeking help to charge her phone
A retail employee has been imprisoned following his sexual assault on a customer who had taken shelter in his shop after becoming stranded in Liverpool city centre on a night out.
Yaaqob Saleh’s victim was left weeping and “curled up into a ball because she was so upset” following his relentless and predatory behaviour. While he had previously denied any wrongdoing, he now acknowledges he “let himself down” during the disturbing incident.
However, a judge informed him his “very, very late expression of remorse” carried “very marginal weight” as he was sent to prison for his failure to “take no for an answer”.
Liverpool Crown Court was told this afternoon (Tuesday) that the complainant had been enjoying an evening with friends in Liverpool city centre celebrating St Patrick’s Day last March before attempting to get a taxi home by herself. Yet, with her mobile having died, she entered Liverpool One Newsagents and Convenience Store on Whitechapel requesting help.
Helen Chenery, prosecuting, outlined how Saleh, of Wendell Street in Toxteth, was manning the counter and permitted her to charge her phone so she could arrange a taxi. The 20-year-old defendant asked her to sit close to a heater on steps next to the till and, following serving a customer, positioned himself beside her.
Saleh, who was 19 at the time, proceeded to place his hand on her thigh and requested a kiss, which she rejected. Despite her refusal, he managed to kiss her cheek and, after attending to another customer, returned to his seat and placed his hand beneath her skirt, touching her vagina through her clothing.
After Saleh rose to assist another shopper, the victim drew herself into a foetal position and wept. Once her mobile had charged sufficiently, she was able to ring a friend and departed the premises, reports the Liverpool Echo.
In her victim impact statement, she described: “Since this incident, I’ve experienced a wide and overwhelming range of emotions. Anxiety, depression and anger have been the most persistent.
“In the weeks and months following the assault, I began to struggle deeply with sleep. I still suffer from regular nightmares, which cause me frequently to wake throughout the night. These episodes have created a fear of sleep and a constant feeling of emotional exhaustion.
“One of the most significant effects has been the loss of my independence. Before the assault, I was confident and self assured.
“I felt safe travelling alone, making decisions for myself and simply existing in the world. That sense of security has been stripped away.
“I now rely on my parents to meet me or accompany me when going out. I constantly feel as though what happened once could happen again. This loss of independence brought with it an overwhelming sense of grief. I felt as though a vital part of my identity had been taken away without my consent.
“My self worth deteriorated. I began to feel as though my body was somehow wrong or repulsive, and I blamed myself. These thoughts have spiralled into regular suicidal ideation and a serious dependency on self harm as a coping mechanism.
“I became emotionally detached from reality and deeply distrustful of others. Even the people trying to help me felt suspicious.
“I also felt deep anger. I was angry at the perpetrator, but also angry at the world. I kept asking myself, why me? I never found a satisfying answer. That question stayed with me every day.
“In an attempt to cope, I began drinking excessively. I used alcohol to temporarily silence the pain and hatred I felt, but this only deepened my feelings of isolation and damaged many of my close relationships. I felt tired and unwell most days.
“Where I used to have energy and drive, I began to struggle to complete basic tasks or get out of bed. This incident has impacted almost every part of my life. It has changed the way I view the world and the way I view myself.”
Saleh has no prior criminal record.
Defence solicitor Katie Lord addressed the court, stating: “It is, of course, serious offending, an offence which has had a serious impact on the complainant. He has been advised of the fact that the court will be considering all options, including custody. He is realistic.
“It is a case where, I concede, that the custody threshold has been passed. I am going ask your honour to step away from imposing immediate custody. He presents, as the Probation Service helpfully outline, with identifiable rehabilitative needs.
“In my submission, they can be addressed in the community if he has the option to be under close supervision. His youth and immaturity are material features. It is clear that those are factors which have led to his offending.
“There is real work to be done in respect of the causative factors that have caused the defendant to act in the way he has. He tells me it is out of character and not in his nature. There is work to be done in understanding the reasoning. He has got family to support him. He seeks employment.
“A community based sentence, in my submission, would allow these necessary interventions. It is unlikely that he would have access to that level of rehabilitative intervention in prison. In my submission, society is best served by this defendant being subject to intensive supervision in the community, as opposed to a relatively short spell in custody.”
Saleh, who required an interpreter throughout the proceedings, was convicted of one count of sexual assault after a trial at the magistrates’ court. He subsequently attempted to challenge his conviction at crown court but later withdrew his appeal.
Standing in the dock dressed in a black Under Armour tracksuit, Saleh received a 12-month sentence at a young offenders’ institution. He was also ordered to register as a sex offender for 10 years and given a four-year restraining order.
During sentencing, Judge Dennis Watson KC stated: “She had been out celebrating St Patrick’s Day with friends, but, at the end of the evening, she came into a shop where you were working. She did that because her phone was dangerously short of charge and, indeed, ran out of charge.
“So it was that she came to you for assistance. She had been drinking and was on her own and vulnerable by reason of the circumstances in which she found herself. Very quickly, you decided to proposition her sexually.
“You tried to persuade her to come around the other side of the counter, where she would be warmer. You asked her for a kiss, touched her thigh. All the while, she was saying to you that she did not want to be kissed by you or touched by you.
“Even when a customer came in and you served the customer, you went back, because there is a real element of you not taking no for an answer. There is this other element of persistence by you. On this separate occasion, you touched her, as Ms Chenery put it, on her crotch, as the author of the pre-sentence report put it, on her vagina but over her clothing, which had the instant effect of causing her to curl up into a ball because she was so upset.
“However young or immature you are, you would know that your behaviour, in doing what you did, was wrong. There was a trial at the magistrates’ court. You gave evidence and denied the offence. Very belatedly, you have written a letter saying you understand that your offending has consequences, that you have let yourself down and you have expressed remorse.
“This is a case, I regret, where the very, very late expression of remorse means that it has very marginal weight, particularly when you have given evidence and completely denied the offending at the magistrates’ court. I regret to inform you that I have concluded that the circumstances of this offence and everything I know about you means this that is an offence where only immediate imprisonment is the appropriate punishment.”
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