COLCHESTER MAN JAILED FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT IN CITY CENTRE
A man formerly employed by a luxury hotel has been jailed for sexually assaulting a woman.Shoukkathali Kaniyarakkal, 42, had approached the victim sitting on the steps outside the Waterstones store in the centre of Colchester on September 7 this year at around 10pm.
The woman said she did not know how long she had been sitting there.
The court heard she was tired and felt she had “nowhere to go”.
Kaniyarakkal asked if she was alright, and she said she was.
Kaniyarakkal left, then returned a short while later, this time asking where she lived.
The victim replied: “Nowhere.” Kaniyarakkal left and returned a third time, this time taking the woman by the wrist and telling her he would “look after her”.
The victim said she felt worried, but wondered if Kaniyarakkal was “trying to be nice”.
He then put his arms around the victim and kissed her, at which the victim said she was “in disbelief”.
Kaniyarakkal grabbed her breast over her clothes and pinched her nipple.
He also rubbed his hand over the woman’s private parts, again over her clothing.
The woman managed to push him off and ran to a nearby restaurant for help.
The court heard that Kaniyarakkal, an Indian national, is currently subject to a deportation order, having served eight months in prison for sexual assault.
The court heard the offence happened in February last year, while Kaniyarakkal was working for Claridge’s, the luxury hotel in Mayfair.
Kaniyarakkal, of Hesper Road, Colchester, appeared in the dock at Ipswich Crown Court for sentencing on Wednesday.
Judge David Pugh said he was satisfied that Kaniyarakkal had “targeted” the woman, who was vulnerable due to her apparent homelessness.
Judge Pugh jailed Kaniyarakkal for 10 months.
He advised Kaniyarakkal that, notwithstanding intervention from the Home Office, he can expect to serve up to half of this time in prison and a further 12 months on licence.
He will also be subject to notifications from the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.
