Feyzel Panchbhaya took the girl into an empty room at the Premier Cars office in Market Street, Westhoughton and put his hands under her clothing Private-hire firm boss spared jail over teen sex assault
A PRIVATE-HIRE firm boss who sexually assaulted a teenage girl has been spared jail.
Feyzel Panchbhaya took the girl into an empty room at the Premier Cars office in Market Street, Westhoughton, where he put his hands under her clothing, Bolton magistrates heard.
The assault came to an end when someone came into the office and the girl and her friend fled the building.
Panchbhaya, a married father, denied assaulting the girl, claiming she had made advances towards him.
But following a trial he was found guilty of sexual assault.
Steve Woodman, prosecuting, said 27-year-old Panchbhaya, the girl and her friend had been in a room at the private-hire office on the afternoon of January 20 watching a horror film together.
During the film Panchbhaya began sending a series of text messages to the girl including one stating: “Shh, keep quiet. Are you up for a quick mission?”
“She merely formed the opinion that he was joking,” said Mr Woodman.
Panchbhaya left the room and sent her another message asking her to also leave and she found him in the doorway of another room.
There was a bed frame and mattress, which Panchbhaya sat on, putting his arms around her and under her upper clothing.
He was disturbed when someone came into the private-hire office and he left the room instructing her to “keep quiet”.
Distressed, the girl told her friend what had happened and they both left the building before contacting the police.
Panchbhaya, of St Helens Road, Bolton, was arrested but alleged he had taken the girl to the room on her own to talk about her friend and claimed it was the girl who sexually harassed him.
In a victim statement the girl, who is now aged 18, said: “I felt really violated as he had his hands on me. I felt trapped.”
Stephen Teasdale, defending, said Panchbhaya has a degree in marketing and was running the private-hire firm for a relative.
He added that he still denies committing the offence and plans to appeal the conviction.
“This conviction is a grave disappointment to him and will have massive ramifications,” he said.
At the sentencing hearing on Thursday magistrates handed Panchbhaya a six-week jail term, suspended for 12 months, and ordered him to do 200 hours unpaid work.
He will also have to pay his victim £200 compensation and a restraining order was made banning him from contacting her for 12 months.
Panchbhaya was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for five years and must pay £330 in costs and charges.
Mr Mo Lakni, manager for Premier Cars said Panchbhaya continues to work for the firm with responsibility for marketing.
"We fully stand by him," he said.
source:
http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/cri ... x_assault/
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