A creep who forced himself upon a sleeping woman at a Perth house party has been jailed.
Junaid Akram sexually assaulted his victim as she dozed on his couch.
She woke to find him on top of her, with her dressed pulled up and her left breast exposed.
Despite her pleas for him to stop, Akram persisted and demanded a kiss, saying: “Then I’ll leave you alone.”
Akram was found guilty following a trial at Perth Sheriff Court in October.
Jurors rejected his claims that the sexual activity was consensual.
The 38-year-old hardware technician was jailed for 18 months when he returned to court for sentencing.
No alternative to prison
Solicitor Linda Clark, defending, had urged the court to consider alternatives to prison time.
She said her client maintained the position he held at trial.
“However, he recognises he has to accept the jury’s decision.
“He has no previous convictions and he never been in any trouble before or since.”
She said the case had caused “considerable stress and anxiety” for Akram, who is “embarrassed and ashamed”.
He was also classed as a low risk of re-offending.
Sheriff Alison McKay told Akram: “Your solicitor is correct to say that this is a matter that I could deal with by imposing unpaid work.
“The difficulty for you is that a community-based disposal might be available but I am satisfied it is not appropriate.”
She said: “You have been convicted of sexually assaulting a young girl.
“The offence was committed only hours after you met her and it was committed while she was asleep and vulnerable.
“In the circumstances, I am absolutely satisfied there is no alternative but to impose a custodial sentence.”
The sheriff’s words were greeted by some applause from the public gallery.
Akram must also stay on the sex offenders register for 10 years.
‘I didn’t give consent’
The trial heard how Akram met his victim outside The Loft nightclub in Perth’s South Street in the early hours of November 30 2019.
She had talked with friends about going to Akram’s then-flat in Florence Court for an after party.
The woman, now 24, said she did not know Akram but he was known to one of her friends.
They walked back to the flat and were later joined by friends in the living room, where she fell asleep on a sofa.
“When I woke up a second time, a man was on top of me,” she told the court.
“I recognised it was Junaid.”
She said her dress had been pulled down and her underwear pushed to the side and he was groping her.
She said she had gone to sleep wearing her clothes, including her shoes and jacket.
The woman said Junaid kissed and sucked her exposed breast as he touched her between her legs.
“I was starting to wake up and when I realised what was happening, I told him ‘no’ and asked him to move.
“I was confused, I didn’t understand what was going on.”
Asked by fiscal depute Lee Corr why she said no, she replied: “Because it wasn’t what I wanted. I didn’t give consent.”
She repeatedly said ‘no’ and tried to push him off.
Despite shoving him away three or four times, Akram kissed her and held for a few seconds.
When she pushed him again, he got up and left the room.
Friends later said they saw the woman looking “distressed, upset and shaken”.
The jury heard Akram’s DNA was found on the victim’s dress and underwear.
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