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Gloucestershire Business News

Gloucestershire business owner handed suspended sentence

A 51-year old Indian restaurant owner has been sentenced to a 22-month suspended prison term today for sexually assaulting a teenage girl.

The judge at Gloucester crown court told Masum Khan he had brought shame to his family by groping the girl's breasts and kissing her when she called to collect a takeaway meal.

Recorder Anna Richardson told Khan, of Buckingham Ave, Cheltenham, that he had no empathy towards his victim and that he could not face up to what he had done.

Khan, a Bangladesh national, denied the girl's allegations but was convicted by a jury at Gloucester Crown Court on July 30.

The jury was told that the 15 year old girl was molested by Khan when she went to the Curry Leaf restaurant in Cinderford on January 6, 2019 to pick up a takeaway.

James Tucker, prosecuting, described how Khan plied the girl with alcohol before he kissed her and touched her breasts under her bra.

"When the teenager arrived at the restaurant Khan took out a glass and poured some Malibu and topped it up with lemonade and encouraged the girl to drink it.

"Khan then asked her how long she had been off on her school holidays - which confirmed that he knew she was under age. He continued to ask her to drink with him.

"The girl, wearing a chunky jacket, had a strappy top on underneath. Khan asked her if she was ticklish. At first she didn't understand the question but then he started to touch her bare skin. He moved his hands up her clothing and started to touch her breasts.

"He pulled her jacket down and said to her he was going to give her an Indian massage. She continued to tell him no, but he gripped her shoulders and then put his hand down the front of her top and into her bra - his bare hand against her bare breast."

Pina Silvio, defending, said: "We cannot go behind the findings of the jury, however, Khan continues to deny that he is guilty of the allegation.

"Khan plays a pivotal role within his family. These proceedings have not just affected him, but his wider family too with his youngest daughter struggling with increased anxiety due to the ongoing proceedings.

"The restaurant business has also struggled due to the pandemic and from the publicity surrounding this case, which has significantly impacted on the income he takes home to support his family.

"Friends and customers and others have rallied around to support Khan who still plays a significant part in the community.

"There is no real mitigation to put before this court because Khan has no victim empathy. This is a problem that he still needs to resolve. However the likelihood of him reoffending is low.

"I believe he will benefit from some professional help as part of a community-based sentence. Taking away his liberty will devastatingly affect his wider family as well as his business."

Recorder Richardson told Khan: "You've known the girl's family for sometime as they had been regular customers at your restaurant.

"Because of this sexual assault the teenage victim feels anxious when she is out with her friends and had difficulty in concentrating at school. She also suffers from flashbacks.

"This was an opportunist offence against a child you'd been attracted to and as such this crosses the custody threshold.

"You were a person of previous good character, yet you've shown no remorse because you still maintain your innocence. You still deny touching the girl sexually.

"In my judgement you cannot face what you have done and during the trial you stated, 'How could I do this I have a daughter the same age?' which to me is a reflection of the deep shame you have brought to your family.

"To this day it still appears that you have no empathy towards your victim, your offending, even hypothetically.

"You run the restaurant with other business partners who speak highly of you. In short they express the view that this behaviour is completely out of character for you and that there is a different side to your personality.

"You have brought shame on your family."

The judge jailed Khan for 22 months, but suspended it for two years. She also imposed 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days and a curfew between the hours of 10am and 3.30pm to 'deprive you of your liberty without affecting your business,' and made him subject to signing the sex offenders' register for 10 years and imposed a restraining order for Khan not to contact the victim by any means for the same time period.

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