Irish waiter faces deportation after sex assault

Convicted of assaulting Moroccan woman who was shopping at a mall with her parents.

DUBAI // An Irishman was convicted yesterday of sexually assaulting a Moroccan woman who was shopping at a mall with her parents. The waiter was sentenced to a suspended three-month jail term and deportation. He has two weeks to appeal against the verdict. It is unclear whether the defendant, WJ, 19, will be deported immediately, after his suspended sentence expires, or after any appeal.

He was found guilty of grabbing the victim from behind and touching her inappropriately. WJ had denied the charge at the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance. The woman told prosecutors that while she was shopping with her parents at Deira City Centre, the defendant approached her and fondled her back. "I turned around, shocked, and asked him what was going on and he started mocking me," she said.

She talked her father out of confronting WJ, but when she proceeded to a checkout counter the defendant grabbed her again and touched her bottom. "I took a hanger and struck him with it. Security then came and contacted police," she said. Hamad Abdel Latif, the presiding judge, also referred the case to the civil courts where the victim has filed for compensation. @Email:[e-mail]