Syrian refugee jailed five years for sexual assault of intoxicated woman in Wallsend park

A 46-year-old man who posed as a Good Samaritan before sexually assaulting a woman in a park in Wallsend has been jailed for five years after a jury found him guilty of assault by penetration.

Khaled Ibrahim, who arrived in the United Kingdom from Syria in 2016, approached the woman in March 2022 after she became separated from friends during a night out, Newcastle Crown Court heard. The victim, in her 20s, told officers she was intoxicated when Ibrahim took her hand, offered to help her find her way home and led her to a bench in a park behind Wallsend Health Centre, where the attack took place.

Prosecutors told the court that Ibrahim kissed the woman, grabbed her breasts and put his hands down her trousers. The woman managed to push him away, run to a nearby stranger's house and report the assault to police. After being identified from CCTV, Ibrahim was arrested and denied wrongdoing when questioned, the court was told.

The trial jury returned a guilty verdict in August. Ibrahim was charged in April of the previous year following what Northumbria Police described as a "long and complex" safeguarding investigation. He was sentenced on Sept. 12 and will be required to register for life on the Sex Offenders' Register.

Judge Robert Adams, addressing Ibrahim at sentencing, described the location and circumstances of the offence. "It was dark and this park was out of the way and there was nobody else present," the judge said. "She was drunk and alone with you. As she became concerned and stood up to leave, you grabbed her, kissed her and grabbed her breasts. You put your hands down her trousers and (sexually assaulted her)."

Court evidence included testimony that Ibrahim told a friend he intended to have sex with the woman and sent that friend away to buy alcohol before isolating her in the park, the court heard.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, the woman described ongoing anxiety and difficulty sleeping. "I am very cautious about who I speak to in general," she said, and described panic attacks in public, regular nightmares and trouble maintaining friendships with male friends. "I have not been sleeping properly and have been suffering from nightmares regularly," the statement added.

Detective Constable Caroline Ross of Northumbria Police praised the victim for reporting the assault and credited officers for the investigation. "Ibrahim is clearly a predatory man who was on the lookout for someone vulnerable that night which he unfortunately found," Det. Const. Ross said. "I want to praise the victim in this case who trusted police by making that first report and allowed us to act for her and bring her attacker to justice."

She added that Ibrahim's placement on the Sex Offenders' Register was intended to alert the public to his status and hoped the sentence would deter others. Northumbria Police advised anyone affected by the case to seek support via its website and provided the usual emergency and non-emergency contact numbers for reporting crimes.

The sentence follows wider legal processes: Ibrahim was charged after the police investigation, tried before a jury, convicted of assault by penetration and sentenced according to the court's findings. The victim's account and CCTV evidence were central to the prosecution's case, and Ibrahim rejected the allegations during police questioning, the court record shows.

Court authorities did not provide further comment beyond sentencing remarks and statements from the investigating officers. Support services for victims of sexual offences remain available locally and nationally for those seeking help following similar incidents.