Hyde Park sex attacker branded 'a woman’s worst nightmare' after preying on female students in Leeds

Milad Fathy was described as being a “woman’s worst nightmare” by a judge at Leeds Crown Court this week after he followed one young female making her way home alone after a night out.

The woman was in the Hyde Park area at around 4am on May 24 last year when 32-year-old Fathy began pursuing her, which made her uneasy. He began asking her questions and eventually stood in front of her to block her route. He grabbed her by the waist but she barged past him and continued to walk on, but he then grabbed her bottom.

She tried to ring for help on her phone but he snatched it from her and ran off. She tried to chase him briefly but was unable to catch him. A passer-by then came to the woman’s aid, prosecutor Peter Hampton told the court.

However, Fathy then used her unlocked phone to post personal pictures of her on Instagram and Facebook accounts, including some of in her underwear.

Before the police were able to arrest him, six days later another student was walking along Moorland Road with her friend when they passed Fathy who began making sexual comments towards them. He then followed the pair until they reached the university. Later on, on their way home, the spotted Fathy who followed them again while verbally abusing them. One of the women then began recording the incident on her phone and he tried to grab it from her hand.

Fathy, of Hyde Park Road, was arrested in the area that evening and was carrying a five-inch kitchen knife. He admitted possession of a bladed article, but denied charges of sexual assault, robbery of a phone and attempted robbery of the second woman’s phone. The case went to trial which had to be abandoned because of Covid, and before a re-trial could begin, he changed his pleas to guilty.

Victim impact statements of both women were read to the court, with both saying they had been left feeling anxious by Fathy’s actions. The first woman said she was left humiliated after he posted her pictures.

Fathy has multiple previous convictions including assault, dangerous driving and threatening behaviour.

Mitigating, Satpal Roth-Sharma said he had been prescribed antidepressants but was not taking them at the time, and was smoking cannabis daily.

She said: “There’s no denying it, his behaviour was poor, his judgement was poor and he should not have behaved in that way. He did not know where his head was at the time.”

A pre-sentence report found that he posed a “high risk” to others.

The judge, Recorder Alex Menary, jailed him for seven years and ordered him to sign the sex offenders registers for 10 years.

He said: “This must be a woman’s worst nightmare, walking home alone in the dark at that time. You harbour a deep-seated hostility towards women which manifested itself. You knew exactly what you were doing. It was alarming behaviour.”