Bangladeshi sex attacker sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison

Bob Burgess:

ILLEGAL immigrant Mofuzzul Chowdhury tasted alcohol for the first time in a Jedburgh pub – and then carried out a random sex attack on a lone woman.

And this week the Bangladeshi was jailed for three-and-a-half years for the drunken rape bid. He is likely to be deported when he is released from prison.

Chowdhury was depressed after his marriage broke up and hasn't old his estranged wife about his sex conviction.

The 34-year-old chef pulled his victim into an alley and tried to remove her jeans as he covered her mouth to stop her screaming.

But she managed to break free and Chowdhury was recognised by locals leaving the Jedburgh Arms as a worker from the Sunrise restaurant in Jedburgh.

Last month he admitted assault with intent to rape at Abbey Place on August 20 and was placed on the Sex Offenders' Register.

He returned to the High Court in Edinburgh after being interviewed by social workers who told the judge he posed a considerable future risk to females.

His lawyer Richard Freeman cited depression following the marriage collapse and told the judge: "He had been introduced that night, he says for the first time, by acquaintances in the pub, to alcohol. He consumed at least four half-pints of beer which had an extremely inebriating effect on him."

Chowdhury left the pub to get some fresh air after feeling dizzy. His advocate added: "It was at that particular time that the victim, whom he accepts was a complete stranger, walked by. Impulsively he grabbed her and committed the offence.

Mr Freeman said Chowdhury had married his wife, who has British citizenship, in Bangladesh in 2001. They returned to live in this country and she made an application for him to stay indefinitely. The plea was refused when the marriage broke down, but Chowdhury remained as an illegal immigrant and stayed in full-time employment.

Sex attacker facing deportation