A MAN has been found guilty of sexually assaulting two women in Falkirk last year.
Muhammad Sheikhi, 23, carried out both attacks in the early hours of Sunday November 30, close to the Hotel Cladhan where he had been staying.
He targeted the first woman at a railway bridge on Kerse Lane, where he hugged her, repeatedly kissed her on the face and mouth, and put his hands under her skirt.
He then sexually assaulted a second woman in Kerse Lane and the nearby Bellsmeadow skate park, where he pinned her against a tree before putting his hands under her clothing.
Both of his victims were in their early 20s and both had been walking home alone after nights out in the town centre.
Sheikhi, who came to the UK by boat, had denied the charges and told police he had just been “roaming around” as he did not have anyone to socialise with in his hotel.
However, following a four-day trial at Stirling Sheriff Court, a jury found the 23-year-old guilty of both charges after three hours of deliberation.
It was originally alleged Sheikhi had also intended to rape one of the women, but the jury deleted this part of the charge.
Sheriff Keith O’Mahony told him: “You have been convicted of two very serious charges.
“As far as this court is concerned you have no previous convictions.
“Therefore, as a matter of law, I require to obtain a report before sentencing.”
Sheikhi, who appeared in court dressed in a grey jumper and blue jeans, showed no reaction as the verdict was read out.
In his closing speech to the jury on Thursday, prosecutor Jamie Hilland said Sheikhi had acted in a “predatory” manner towards the two women.
“I suggest that the evidence demonstrates that in the early hours of November 30 last year, the accused behaved in a predatory manner towards these two women and he sexually assaulted them,” Hilland said.
“There are compelling similarities between the two crimes.
“These were so closely linked in time and circumstances as to form part of a single course of criminal conduct systematically pursued by the accused.”
He added: “On their evidence, the accused approached both women, he’s tried to give them his phone. He tried to get them to add him on Snapchat.
“In both cases he’s tried to corner the complainer and he then sexually assaulted both of them.”
The prosecutor said Sheikhi’s actions had left both women “distressed”, highlighting a phone call one of them had made to her father following the assault.
“(Her father) said she could hardly talk, she could hardly breathe. It was the point where he was struggling to understand her,” Hilland said.
“She told him she had been sexually assaulted at the railway bridge by a man who put his hand under her skirt and tried to kiss her.”
In his closing speech, Sheikhi’s lawyer Paul Keenan had urged the jury to acquit his client of both charges, saying the evidence against him was “flawed throughout”.
However, the jury found him guilty of both offences.
Sheikhi is due to be sentenced on June 29.
