The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Woman fought off two attackers with karate
Illegal immigrant assailants jailed for three years each after targeting woman walking home after night out
An Angus woman who bravely fought off two attackers with karate moves after they pounced on her as she walked home from a night out in Forfar has welcomed the three-year jail terms imposed on the illegal immigrants.
Kelly Soutar was in Dundee Sheriff Court to see Bangladeshi pair Mohammad Islam and Shebab Smekramuddin sentenced for the incident last September in which the 29-year-old brown-belt used her selfdefence skills to escape her assailants, fearing she was about to be raped.
Islam, 29, and Smekramuddin, 48, were tried on a charge of intending to rape Miss Soutar before being convicted by a jury of assault following a trial last month in which the victim delivered what was described as “powerful and persuasive” evidence during three-anda-half hours in the witness box.
After serving their jail terms the pair will be deported and Miss Soutar said her reaction to the sentence was one of “overwhelming relief”.
“I am happy to know that they won’t be able to do this to anyone else in this country,” she said.
Sheriff Linda Smith said that as well as hearing the evidence of Miss Soutar from the witness box she had given full consideration to a full victim statement prepared for the court.
Miss Soutar said she now wanted to put the incident behind her and would be focusing on the forthcoming world karate championships in Dundee where she will represent the city’s Kanzen Karate Club.
“I wanted to be here to see them sentenced and I am glad it’s over with,” said welder Kelly “I’m satisfied that they didn’t get away with it completely. It’s a relief that they won’t be able to do that to anyone else in this country.
“When they got me to the ground that’s when the thought of rape went through my head. They didn’t go for my bag or anything else – they could have just run off with that – and that’s why I thought I was going to be raped.
“To begin with I couldn’t think of anything I had been taught at karate and then it was more a case of muscle memory and my body was acting on its own.
“I managed to kick one of them and then hit out to get free – I don’t know if they chased me. I just ran.”
Kelly added: “I have had a lot of people getting in touch to ask which karate club I go to and if I think self-defence is worth learning. I definitely think that is something women should consider. If it can happen to me in Forfar it can happen anywhere and to anybody.”