A man has been jailed for six years after breaking into a family home in Cardiff and sexually assaulting two girls as they slept in their bedroom.

Mohammed Abbas, 29, was sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court on Tuesday, 10 November, with an extended licence period of three years. He had previously pleaded guilty to burglary, trespass on a premises with intent to commit a sexual offence, and two counts of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.

The court heard that at around 2am on 30 July, Abbas, who had been drinking, tried the windows of neighbouring houses before forcing his way into the family home and making his way upstairs to the bedroom where three sisters were sleeping, two of them children.

One of the girls woke to find him crouching in the corner of the room and began to scream, waking her sisters. The court heard that Abbas exposed himself, repeatedly asked the girls whether they wanted to have sex with him, and committed a sex act in front of them as they screamed in fear.

One of the girls was able to strike him repeatedly with a pillow as he came close to her. When other members of the family woke and turned on the lights, Abbas fled the house. The judge said the incident lasted about a minute and a half, which to the young women must have felt like a lifetime of terror.

Judge: a real and imminent threat

Sentencing Abbas, Judge Lucy Crowther said he posed a “real and imminent” threat to women and girls. She told him: “I am satisfied you intended to rape at least one of these girls.”

“This offending was entirely about you and your sexual gratification, at any cost,” she said. “This type of offending strikes unimaginable terror and fear into the hearts of right-minded people.”

The girls’ mother said in a statement read to the court that the crime had affected her daughters’ emotional wellbeing, their education and their ability to feel safe in their own home.

Guilty pleas and earlier conviction

Prosecutor Rebecca Griffiths told the court that Abbas had a previous conviction for assault of a constable and battery, committed at a hotel in Warwick where he had been a resident. He had been given a 12-month community order for those offences in July, and the Cardiff offences took place 16 days later.

David Pinnell, defending, said Abbas was drunk at the time of the offending in Cardiff and had since accepted full responsibility for his behaviour.

Arrival and accommodation

Abbas, who says he is Palestinian, arrived in Britain by dinghy from France in March. At the time of the offences he was living in accommodation provided by the Home Office, having been moved into a two-bedroom house in Cardiff two days before the attack. The Sun reported that the house was valued at £250,000.

The Home Office has previously said it will seek to deport Abbas at the earliest possible opportunity.

Source: The Sun