Man who attacked woman walking home avoids prison because he ‘would lose his job’

A man who forced himself on a young woman has avoided jail time after complaining he would ‘lose his job’.

Javed Miah, 23, ambushed a young woman as she walked home late at night, pulling her to the floor and molesting her, the Manchester Evening News reports.

He fled the scene when the woman managed to use the SOS function on her phone to call 999 which let out a loud beeping noise.

The victim told the police: “Since the assault, I have not been able to leave the house or work.

“I do not know if he knows my route to work. I am scared to walk anywhere. I will have to rely on my friends or family to drive me to work out of fear.”

Miah was arrested despite running away from the scene. 

He admitted sexual assault and was sent on a sex offender rehabilitation programme after pleading that he was the ‘sole earner’ in his family. 

The incident occurred on December 11th, 2018 at 9pm in Oldham, as the woman returned home from work. 

Prosecutor Peter Conroy said: “She noticed there was a male walking behind her, and he bumped into her. Her right shoulder hurt and she lost her breath because of fear that she did not know what the defendant was going to do.”

Mr Conroy added: “She was shocked and frightened. She told him it was not right for him to do this. He had his arms around her chest and then the next thing she knew, she was on the floor on top of him. He lifted his right hand towards her crotch and started to move her hand up towards her chest.

“She said ‘my mind froze, I was in total shock’. She managed to get out her mobile phone and use the SOS function to call 999. This let out a loud beeping sound and this forced him to instantly let go and run away down an alleyway. She had said nothing to him to warrant giving him any right of doing this.”

Miah gave no comment in his police interview.

His lawyer, Saul Comish said: “This offence was quite opportunistic.

“He is in employment at a takeaway where he works from 4 to 11pm. He is married and is a father to a four-year-old child. If you feel a custodial sentence is required, he would lose his job and he is the sole earner for his family, so this would have a significant impact.

“This incident was entirely out of character. He has a low risk of re-offending.”

Javed Miah was sentenced to six months imprisonment, suspended for two years and will have to complete 250 hours of unpaid work. 

He was ordered to pay £213 in costs and must sign the Sex Offender Register for seven years. 

Sentencing JP David Quarnby said: “This was a cowardly and sustained attack on a young woman late at night.”

It comes after Metropolitan Police chief Cressida Dick said that it is ‘incredibly rare for a woman to be abducted from our streets’, following the murder of Sarah Everard in London earlier this month. 

It is estimated that approximately 85,000 women a year are raped but that only one in 25 reported rapes end up in court.

If you need any help with the issues mentioned in this article, you can contact Manchester-based charity The Pankhurst Trust for help.