Tooting Breast Grabber in Court ***UPDATED***

From Your Local Guardian:

A 20-year-old man who grabbed women’s breasts in the street near Tooting Bec tube station has pleaded guilty to sexual assault at Kingston Crown Court.

Wajahat Zubair, from Walworth, attacked four women last year - including an Australian woman whom he targeted five times.

The woman, who cannot be named, has now moved out of the area and claims she is on the verge of moving back home because of her ordeal.

Crown prosecutor Jane Carpenter said: “She was extremely shocked and upset about what happened.”

Zubair targeted victims walking to and from Tooting Bec tube station between March and May last year.

As he continued his attacks, he got more confident and even pounced on a woman during rush hour on a busy street.

Ms Carpenter said of that attack: “She described the defendant as caressing her left breast.

“She felt he’d done it before.”

He was finally arrested on June 19, and although two victims later picked him out in an identity parade he denied any involvement.

On May 11 this year, facing a lengthy trial, he eventually pleaded guilty to eight sexual assaults at the last minute.

Zubair came to the country in November 2007 to be with his mother, who has a study visa.

The Wandsworth Guardian was prevented from reporting the case until now because of a gagging order made by the courts.

Our reporter succeeded in overturning the order, as the judge agreed it had been imposed incorrectly.

Zubair will be sentenced by Judge Matthews on Monday, August 10 at the same court.

Not only did this case never make the national dailies, this local paper never even revealed what sentence he received.

***UPDATE*** 18th August 2009:

The Wandsworth Guardian finally reports the sentence a week after it was passed - and what a sentence it, pretending he's the victim and putting him on lots of courses at our expense instead of simply deporting him:

Zubair, who used to live in Lessingham Avenue, Tooting, attacked four women between March and May last year - one of them five times.

Many of them were walking to and from Tooting Bec tube station, which Zubair passed through on his way home from night shifts in Muswell Hill, the court was told.

He was finally arrested on June 19 last year, but denied any involvement and only pleaded guilty to the eight sexual assaults at the last minute.

On Monday, August 10, Judge Matthews gave him a suspended prison sentence of 51 weeks, which he will serve if he re-offends in the next two years.

She also imposed an 18-month supervision order and a youth sex offender programme called Youth in Need.

Zubair has been electronically tagged for 28 days with a 7pm to 7am curfew, and has been placed on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.

He has also been ordered to attend a 60-day course to improve his English.

The defendant, who now lives in Walworth, came to the country in November 2007 to be with his mother, who has a study visa.