HECKMONDWIKE MAN JAILED FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT AFTER DRUGS AND CRASH
A man sexually assaulted a police community support officer after taking a cocktail of alcohol and drugs and trying to take his own life.Zahir Abbas had drunk four bottles of whisky and taken crack cocaine and heroin when he lost control of his car, crashed into another vehicle and hit a wall.
Leeds Crown Court heard an off-duty PCSO went to help after she saw the incident as she made her way to work.
The officer went to help the woman driving the other car before going to check on Abbas.
The 34-year-old was slumped behind his seat, smelt strongly of alcohol and was slurring his speech.
Abbas swore at her and tried to get out of the car but she refused to let him leave.
He groped the officer on two occasions when she turned away.
He continued to be abusive and used sexual phrases when other officers arrived to arrest him.
Four bottles of whisky were found on the floor of the vehicle which Abbas claimed to have drunk but he refused to provide a roadside breath test.
He also told officers he had taken cocaine, crack cocaine and heroin.
The incident happened around 3pm on December 1 last year in Horbury, near Wakefield.
Abbas was released on bail but was arrested again on February 9 this year after a police chase through Dewsbury and Heckmondwike.
Abbas was the passenger in a VW Jetta which sped away from police on Willans Road.
The vehicle was driven at double the speed limit, went through red lights and mounted a pavement.
The driver continued to try to escape despite puncturing the tyres of the car.
The car went on to a pedestrianised area at the back of Heckmondwike bus station where Abbas tried to run away.
He was caught by officers and taken to a police station where he was found to have 39 wraps of heroin and crack cocaine in his underwear.
His mobile phone contained texts linking him to drug supply.
Prosecutor Carmel Pearson said it was difficult to persuade the PCSO she was a victim of crime, adding: "She thought it was something she should put up with as part and parcel of her job.
It was the attending police officer who persuaded her she did not have to put up with the assaults." Abbas, of Hill Top Estate, Heckmondwike, pleaded guilty to two offences of sexual assault, two of possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply, failing to provide a breath specimen, disorderly conduct, driving without no insurance and driving without a licence.
He has 26 previous convictions for 50 offences, including drink driving, failing to provide a breath specimen, being drunk in charge of a vehicle and possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.
Mitigating, Richard Holland said: "He had consumed four bottles of whisky and consumed an awful lot of drugs and his aim was to kill himself that day by driving in to something.
He is rather surprised by his failed attempt." He added: "In relation to the sexual assault, it is plainly a very unpleasant offence for the PCSO who was acting in the public spirit and trying to keep him there while the police arrived.
.
.
It was loutish and abusive behaviour rather than anything more sinister." Abbas told the judge: "It's not normal of me to do something like that with a female - whether she is an officer or not." He said he started taking drugs when he was released from prison and was unable to find a job, adding: "I don't know how I thought by selling drugs I could better my life." He was jailed for four years and one month.
Judge Christopher Batty told Abbas that dealing cannot be tolerated as drugs cause misery to users who commit crimes to support their habit and in turn their victims.
