Man jailed for kidnapping and sexually assaulting injured woman

A MAN has been jailed for four years after he kidnapped and sexually assaulted a woman, who was in a vulnerable state, in central London.

Thirty-one-year-old Sharif Abbas (left) of Nightingale Road, Haringey, was sentenced to four years for sexual assault and four years for kidnapping by the Southwark Crown Court last Friday (15). The sentences are to be served concurrently, Metropolitan Police said.

The court heard that at around 6 am on June 16, 2019, a 19-yearold woman fell down a set of stairs as she walked from one platform to another at Bond Street tube station and sustained a head injury that had exposed her skull and a broken wrist.

Abbas approached her and offered to help her. He led her out of the station, putting on a TfL high-vis vest, and after telling her to wait for him, scouted out an empty basement of a nearby building. He then brought her back to the basement, telling her he needed to examine her for injuries, at which point he sexually assaulted her. When Abbas entered the building’s basement, he had unknowingly triggered a silent alarm.

Police soon arrived to investigate the alarm and found Abbas with the injured woman under a covered walkway where they were not visible to passers-by at street level.

On entry, officers found Abbas standing behind the victim with his hands under her clothing and the fly of his jeans undone.

Abbas was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault and was taken to a north London police station. The woman was taken by London Ambulance Service to a west London hospital where she underwent surgery for a broken wrist and received treatment for a serious head injury. She has since made a full recovery from those injuries.

Detective constable Nigel Pacquette, the investigating officer from the Central West Command Unit, said, “The young lady targeted by Abbas has been incredibly brave, determined and patient throughout this investigation and the court proceedings.

“She no longer lives in the UK, and due to Abbas’s not guilty plea, was compelled to return to Britain and quarantine in order to take part in the trial process. I applaud her actions to help ensure that other women are spared the perverse attentions of this man.