Virgin Media employee jailed for ‘lunging’ at women in West Yorkshire while in their homes

Naveed Khawaja, 55, of Yew Street, Fartown, Huddersfield, was jailed for three years at Leeds Crown Court yesterday (Tuesday) after being found guilty at the magistrates court of five counts of intentionally touching a woman without her consent.

The charges relate to two separate incidents, one in Bradford where Khawaja “lunged” at a woman and grabbed her breasts and another where he persistently harassed a woman who told him she was autistic.

For the prosecution, Richard Woolfall said that the first offence happened on July 14, 2017 when Khawaja went to a woman’s flat in Bradford and showed her his Virgin identification badge, saying that he was there because her son had requested an upgrade.

The woman allowed Khawaja in as she was feeling ill at the time and “the closest place to allow her to sit down was the bedroom”.

After paperwork was completed Khawaja went to the bathroom. When he returned there was an advert for breast implants on the television, at which point he said “I have never touched someone with breast implants before” in a “creepy way”.

Khawaja then “lunged” at the woman and grabbed her breasts. The woman called her son and the police to let them know what had happened.

The woman also called Virgin Media and asked for a refund, which she is still waiting for.

The woman said that the incident had left her “extremely distressed and worried” and that she now “struggles to trust anyone”.

The second incident happened in October 2021 when Khawaja began talking to a woman in a fish and chip shop and offered to take £10 off her internet bill.

The woman saw Khawaja in his Virgin Media van outside of the shop and spoke to him again, at which point he offered to take her home. Mr Woolfall said: “She was reluctant but he was persistent.

"Against her better judgement she agreed.”

When at the woman’s home Khawaja began complementing her looks, at which point she told him she was autistic. He then asked her more sexual questions before he “grabbed her shoulder and pulled her in for a hug”. He then grabbed her bottom and kissed her. After he left the victim “washed her mouth 20 times to remove any contact from him”.

Khawaja then called the woman persistently over the next week. In an impact statement the woman said she has developed “stress and anxiety” and no longer wears makeup because she “doesn’t want to draw attention”.

Defending Khawaja, Jemima Stephenson said that he has three daughters who require his support and that they “may lose their family home” if he was sent to jail.

Her Honour Judge Belcher said that Khawaja’s sentence would be aggravated because it was an abuse of trust, saying: “If you had not been a trusted member of Virgin they would not have let you into their homes.”

She sentenced him to three years in prison and placed him on the sex offenders register indefinitely. She said: “I’m mindful of the impact this will have on your family. At the end of the day that is the result of your offending which you did voluntarily. You have placed them in that position.”