Man jailed for sexual assault of young girl

A man who followed a young girl through the Manx capital before sexually assaulting her has been jailed for six years and eight months.

Mohammed Jabbar, 43, had been finishing work at a fast food restaurant in Douglas when he followed the victim, who had walked past the establishment on the night of 28 July.

The court heard Jabbar spoke to the girl shortly before leaving work and asked if he could take her home. She said no and walked away, but he followed her before sexually assaulting her on Douglas beach.

Jailing him for sexual assault and sexual activity with a child, Deemster Graeme Cook said Jabbar had targeted a "particularly vulnerable victim".

The court heard Jabbar had followed the girl to the bus shelter on Duke Street, where one count of sexual activity took place shortly before midnight.

Footage from CCTV showed Jabbar then following the victim at about 00:10 BST on 29 July, past the sea terminal and through the bottleneck carpark.

One count of sexual assault and two counts of sexual activity then took place on the beach.

There was an 18-minute period before the girl was seen walking away alone on CCTV, and Jabbar could be seen walking in the opposite direction, Douglas Courthouse was told.

The victim told police she kept on telling Jabbar she needed to leave when the offences took place and her phone was out of battery.

Jabbar was arrested on 8 August and subsequently pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault and three counts of sexual activity with a child.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, the girl said: "My life forever changed that night, he took away my innocence."

She said she had not been able to sleep since the incident, struggled to get out of bed, and was struggling to form any kind of relationship with new people.

"Although he pleaded guilty, I still have to deal with the trauma for the rest of my life", the girl added.

Deemster Cook said the offences had caused "severe psychological harm" to the victim, adding: "I do hope she has a recovery from this at some point."

Jabbar was placed under a sexual harm prevention order indefinitely and an exclusion order, banning him from returning to the island after he has served his sentence.

He was also placed on the sexual offenders' register for life.

Speaking after the case, Det Insp Nick Haxby praised the courage of the victim and said he hoped that "with the right support which is in place", the sentencing would "assist and provide some level of closure for her and her family".

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