An asylum seeker who illegally entered Britain on the back of a lorry had his decision to sexually assault a “vulnerable” male in his adopted city of Newcastle blamed on the city’s “immorality”.
Zain Osman, originally a shepherd from Sudan, east Africa, subjected his victim to a 20-minute ordeal in which he was bitten and sent tumbling into a roadside ditch, ChronicleLive reports.
“[The victim] fell into a ditch outside a cash and carry,” related prosecutor Robin Turton.
“He tried to walk away but felt a bite from behind. He screamed and told [Osman] he was going home.”
Thankfully, the victim — described as having “difficulties” which would classify him as vulnerable — was rescued by the intervention of a passing taxi driver, although not before he had suffered a number of injuries.
CCTV footage of the attack demonstrated “the sustained and persistent nature of the defendant’s conduct towards him, despite the victim’s concerted efforts to fend him off and escape,” according to the prosecutor, who confirmed that Osman was “an asylum seeker from Sudan who entered the UK in a lorry with no passport so we can’t say if he had any convictions outside this country.”
The defence Osman offered, through lawyer Jamie Adams, was that he “had never experienced the kind of immorality he experienced in coming and was evident in this particular area of Newcastle.”
The lawyer added that Osman “came from Sudan, where homosexuality is still a capital offence, although it’s not always enforced. Alcohol is also a pretty serious offence for a Muslim in Sudan,” as if this diminished his responsibility for his crime.
“[Osman] lacked the kind of life experiences we know about in our more civilised community,” Adams added.
Sentencing judge Jeremy Freedman appeared to accept this, at least in part, telling Osman: “I accept you are now very sorry for what you did and you are a naive uneducated gentleman. Nevertheless, you knew what you were doing was wrong and you must be punished.”
The migrant received a light 15-month sentence, and is likely to be entitled to automatic release on licence halfway through it, like the vast majority of criminals.
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