Kiss assault shop assistant behind bars

Ali Rizwan had become friendly with the woman and wanted the relationship to develop and one evening after work at his Hindley shop he went round to see her, taking food with him. He had not been invited, but entered and tried to kiss her three times.

“It was perfectly obvious she did not want you to do that,” said Recorder Stephen Riordan. “Eventually, probably because her dog barked, you left the house and went back shortly afterwards to deliver a note saying you were sorry for what had happened.”

Prosecuting, Arthur Gibson told Liverpool Crown Court that the victim, who was in her early 30s, was badly affected by the incident and had been left wary of going outside.

Rizwan, 32, of no fixed address, admitted sexual assault. It happened in June 2014 but he skipped bail and was only re-arrested in January.

Jailing him, the judge said he would be due for release after serving half his term but, as his asylum application had yet to be decided, his release at that point would not be automatic and depend on the immigration authorities. He imposed an indefinite restraining order to keep away from the victim and ordered him to sign on the Sex Offenders’ Register for 10 years.

Defending, Martyn Walsh said Rizwan has no previous convictions and was sorry for his behaviour.