A student who was caught on CCTV trying to sexually assault a woman at an east London bus stop has been jailed for four years.
Rami Othmane, 21, from Sicily, Italy, but living in Hackney at the time of the offence, was sent to prison for attempted rape on Wednesday after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing at Wood Green Crown Court.
The judge heard that, by chance, a member of staff in a CCTV control room saw Othmane attempting to force himself onto a woman at a bus stop in Allerton Road, Hackney, on January 22 at around 4am.
The controller alerted police straight away and officers went down to the scene, however, Othmane had already left the area.
The victim did not wish to report the incident but due to the seriousness of the offence, officers decided to launch an investigation.
They were able to track Othmane through his movements on CCTV and trawled addresses in the vicinity to see if residents recognised him.
After a tip-off they paid Othmane a visit and spotted the coat he was seen wearing in the video footage at the time of the offence.
He was arrested and subsequently charged with attempted rape on January 31.
Investigation lead Detective Constable Dave Barrett said: “It is with huge thanks to the diligent CCTV operator who spotted this alarming incident and immediately called police, allowing the officers to act quickly and locate the victim and ultimately put this man behind bars.
“We fully respect the victim’s decision not to make a report but we hope today’s outcome proves that we took this incident, like all sexual offences, extremely seriously and will work tirelessly to trace those who think they can commit atrocious crimes such as this.
“Othmane is a dangerous individual and he may well have caused serious harm to others if he wasn’t apprehended.”
