Man found guilty of sex attack on sleeping woman at Perth house party

A man has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a sleeping woman at a Perth house party.

Junaid Akram forced himself on his victim as she dozed on his couch.

She woke to find him on top of her, with her dress pushed down and pulled up.

When she repeatedly told him ‘no’ and tried to push him away, Akram demanded a kiss, saying: “Then I’ll leave you alone.”

The 38-year-old hardware technician denied the attack, claiming it was consensual.

But his version of events was rejected by jurors who took just under three hours to find him guilty following a week-long trial at Perth Sheriff Court.

Small talk before attack

The jury heard Akram met his victim in the early hours of November 30 2019, following a night out in Perth.

The woman, now 24, said she had gone with friends to The Loft nightclub on South Street, after visiting some pubs.

She told the court she was “tipsy” after drinking two pints of Strongbow Dark Fruits and a couple of vodkas.

She said she did not really know Akram but he was known to one of her friends.

The woman and her friends left the club about 2.30am and CCTV showed the group standing on the street.

“We were discussing an after-party and were looking for someone to go with,” she said.

The court heard how she began walking with her two friends and Akram to his then-home in Florence Place.

The two friends went somewhere else first, so she walked with Akram on his own.

“Once we got there, we went into a bedroom – I had hurt my leg and he said he had something for it.

“He went and put some cream on my leg.

“We just made small talk. We had just met, so there was very little conversation.”

‘It was not what I wanted’

Her two friends turned up and the party moved into the living room.

“I don’t remember exactly what happened but at some point I went to sleep on the couch,” she said.

The woman said she woke up after another man arrived and began offering drinks.

She declined and went back to sleep.

“When I woke up a second time, a man was on top of me.

“I recognised it was Junaid.”

She said: “My dress had been pulled down from the top and my left boob had been taken out.

“The dress had also been pulled up from the bottom. My underwear had been pushed to the side and Junaid was touching my vagina.”

She said she had gone to sleep wearing her clothes, including her shoes and jacket.

The woman said Junaid kissed and sucked her exposed breast as he touched her between her legs.

“I was starting to wake up and when I realised what was happening, I told him ‘no’ and asked him to move.

“I was confused, I didn’t understand what was going on.”

Asked by fiscal depute Lee Corr why she said no, she replied: “Because it wasn’t what I wanted. I didn’t give consent.”

Forced kiss

She said: “He then tried to kiss me. I said ‘no’ again and tried to push him off.

“His face was on top of my face. He was trying to kiss me on my lips.”

She said Akram told her: “Just one kiss and I’ll leave you alone.”

The woman said she pushed him away three or four times.

Akram kissed her and held for a few seconds, she said.

“I pushed him off again and then he got up and left the room.

“I just wanted him to get out. I wanted to leave.”

Friends later said they saw the woman looking “distressed, upset and shaken.”

Akram’s DNA was found on his victim’s dress and underwear.

Sheriff Alison McKay deferred sentence for background reports.

Akram, of Sidey Place, Perth, was placed on the sex offenders register.

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