Failed asylum seeker sexually assaulted sleeping woman on overnight bus to Edinburgh
Pakistani man remanded in custody ahead of sentencing
A failed asylum seeker who sexually assaulted a sleeping woman on a bus travelling to Edinburgh has been remanded in custody.
Rayyan Ali was travelling on a Flixbus from London when he groped the victim by sliding his hands between her legs as she slept on a seat behind him.
The victim woke up to find Ali assaulting her and shouted at him to stop as the vehicle passed through East Linton in East Lothian on January 28, 2024.
A friend then alerted the bus driver and 27-year-old Ali was forced to move seats, and the police were contacted.
The Pakistan national was met by officers when the bus stopped off in Edinburgh and he was arrested and charged with the sex attack.
Ali, of Newcastle Upon Tyne, appeared at the Capital’s sheriff court the following day but has subsequently skipped two further hearings due to be held in August 2024 and September this year.
He appeared in the dock from custody at the city centre court on Friday, November 6 where he stood trial after denying the allegations against him.
Ali was previously arrested while attempting to claim benefits on the Isle of Man in January this year.
The island’s Immigration Compliance team escorted him off the island and he was handed over to Border Force officers and police at Liverpool Airport.
Following the arrest, a spokesman for the Isle of Man government said: “I can confirm that, in a joint operation with Merseyside Police and UK Border Force, the island’s Immigration Compliance Team successfully returned a UK failed asylum seeker to the UK.
“The island’s Immigration Compliance Team is unable to comment on details concerning the individual, specific teams in attendance or whether this person was wanted by UK police.”
The victim of the sex assault told the trial she and a friend travelled from Edinburgh to Newcastle for a night out and the pair were returning to the Capital on the London to Glasgow Flixbus.
She said she had fallen asleep but woke up to find the man in front of her had pushed his hand through the gap between the seat and the window and was touching her.
She immediately shouted at the man to stop and managed to record a short video clip of him for identification purposes.
The victim told the court she had felt “disgusted and violated” by the attack on her and said the incident “still makes me cry”.
Ali told the trial he had been travelling to Edinburgh and had been asleep for most of the bus journey. And though he denied assaulting the woman he said if there had been any touching it had been accidental.
Following the evidence, Sheriff Daniel Kelly said he found the woman’s evidence to be convincing and any touching by the man had been “a deliberate act”.
The sheriff said: “I do find you did touch her leg and I do find it was a deliberate sexual assault and therefore I do find you guilty of the charge.”
The court heard Ali had previously pleaded guilty to the two failure to appear at court charges.
Sheriff Kelly placed Ali on the sex offenders register, remanded him in custody and deferred sentence for the preparation of reports to next month.