Young Afghan who sexually assaulted three women in Corby walks free from court

A man sexually assaulted three women in public in Corby leaving them suffering emotional distress.

A court heard how Davood Alekozai, 23, carried out the first assault on a stranger who happened to be visiting his former Corby neighbourhood back in 2021.

He deliberately brushed past her and felt her buttocks as well as touching her with his erect penis through his clothing. He then prevented her from leaving the area in which they were stood.

Then in July 2022 he went to The Range in Phoenix Parkway, Corby, and brushed past a shopper, deliberately feeling her buttocks. He then waited at the end of an aisle for her and tried to repeat his actions. All this happened in front of her children.

On the same day he went into nearby Superdrug and a third victim saw him behaving in an ‘odd manner’. He followed her around the shop and then reached out and touched her bottom. He left the store and she was able to bravely follow him and take a photo.

None of the three women were previously known to Alekozai, who pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual assault by touching.

Northampton Crown Court heard on Thursday (December 7) that Alekozai, of Stone House Mews in Corby, was born in Afghanistan and arrived in the country as an unaccompanied minor aged 14 after suffering physical and emotional abuse in his home country.

His parents are still in Afghanistan and he has no familial support in the UK.

A medical assessment concluded he was likely suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. He told the doctor that he carried out the offences because his body was being controlled by the voices in his head.

Mitigating, Catherine Rose, said that Alekozai was no longer being looked after under the council’s care leavers’ scheme although he should have access to it until the age of 25.

"He wants help,” she said. “He says he’s been here for eight years and there is no help.”

The court was told he had one conviction for common assault on his record from June 2018.

Victim personal statements were read to the court. One woman said she had suffered ‘significant emotional distress’ and another said she couldn’t eat or sleep in the days after the assault.

The third said she felt violated and then when she had accidentally spotted the defendant in public some months later she felt panicked.

Her Honour Judge Crane said that she would not impose a sexual harm prevention order as it would not be workable or prevent him from reoffending.

She said: “You have had a troubled background. You are now homeless and isolated, without friends and family. What is vitally important is that you receive assistance with your mental health.”

She gave him a 24-month community order with a requirement to carry out 55 rehabilitation requirement days. He will be on the sex offenders’ register for five years and will have to meet regularly with probation officers who will monitor his progress.