He told the court he thought what he did was perfectly acceptable in “liberal” Britain.
Masud Ismaili, 30, entered Britain illegally in 2007 and applied for asylum, but that was denied.
Between November 2007, shortly after his arrival, and January 2008, he groped three women in the same shopping area in Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire in the West Midlands.
Arrested and charged, he disappeared and failed to show up at court. After four years on the lam, he was found and jailed. At his trial, he was sentenced to 21 months in prison.
Ismaili’s attorney, Tony Cooke, told the court: “He didn’t feel he had done anything wrong at the time. There was no grabbing or holding; he simply touches a female’s breasts. There was no trying to get these ladies on their own. It was all in public places and each incident was short-lived.”
Judge Robert Trevor-Jones, however, told Ismaili: “There were three separate occasions involving three victims who were strangers to you. You approached each of them, engaged them in conversation and proceeded to touch them by kissing or touching their breasts, despite the fact that they made it quite clear they wanted none of it.”
Two of the women said that they shouted at him to get away while he put his arms around them.