Spurned student, 22, carried out sex assault

A STUDENT sexually assaulted a woman by kissing her on the neck after she had previously told him she did not want to go out with him.

Abdi Ali, 22, was sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court yesterday after he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the complainant, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

The Cardiff University student carried out the assault on New Year’s Eve last year at an address in the city.

Friends of the defendant said he had been “unsettled” and acting uncharacteristically in the lead-up to the assault.

Prosecutor Ashanti-Jade Walton said: “The defendant kissed (the complainant’s) neck two or three times and asked her to come closer to him so he could tell her something.”

The complainant then left the property and contacted the police, who arrested Ali on January 5. He denied the allegations of sexual assault and claimed his behaviour had been misconstrued, but he later pleaded guilty to the offence.

In a victim personal statement to the court, the complainant said her personality had been impacted by the assault, and she had been “short” with her friends and her boyfriend.

The court also heard that Ali had been suspended from Cardiff University after an incident in March in the university’s library where he attacked three other students. He is due to be sentenced for three counts of common assault at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court at a later date.

Defence barrister Ruth Smith said that since the offences her client had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and was now taking medication to control his behaviour.

She said: “If he feels himself become unwell he must seek medical attention because it has a direct impact on those he cares about.

“There does appear to be a genuine feeling of remorse and regret in respect of his behaviour towards this young lady.”

Sentencing history student Ali, Judge Jonathan Furness QC said: “You sexually touched her by kissing her on the neck on a number of occasions.

“I accept you were suffering with mental health difficulties but there is no excuse for this sort of behaviour.”

Ali, of Gorse Hill, Bristol, was sentenced to a 12-month community order and a requirement of 20 days‘ rehabilitation activity.

He was also made subject to a restraining order preventing him from contacting the complainant for the next five years.