Leeds man exposed himself and performed sex act in front of girls in mosque

Muhammad Saqib was deemed unfit to stand trial in relation to three counts of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, but a jury found him guilty in his absence. The 32-year-old, who was said to have “significant mental health issues”, has now been banned by a Leeds Crown Court judge from having any unsupervised contact with girls under 16.

Prosecuting, Abdul Latif Shakoor said that the incident happened when the girls entered a mosque in the city on May 10 last year at 7.30pm. One of the girls went to the toilet and encountered Saqib, who exposed himself as he walked towards her. She ran off, found the other two girls and told them what had happened.

All three girls encountered Saqib again and tried to get away, but he followed them to a locked door. He then lowered his trousers and started performing a sex act in front of them.

One of the girls later told police that Saqib “looked like he didn’t know what he was doing” and “seemed abnormal”. She said: “It appeared he had been smoking a drug.”

The three girls ran away and hid in a toilet cubicle but were followed by Saqib, who banged on the door. After he left, they phoned the police and officers arrested Saqib a short time later. The court heard how officers found the girls “distressed and hiding in the toilet cubicle”.

Saqib, of Tempest Road, Beeston, made just one comment to police during his interview, saying he was given a cigarette on his way to the mosque that caused “some sort of intoxication”. He said: “From then onwards, I don’t know what happened.”

His Honour Judge Ray Singh said he had deemed Saqib unfit to stand trial as it was “evidently clear that you did suffer from significant mental health issues and impairment”.

He gave Saqib to a two-year supervision order during which time he will receive treatment and be supervised by the Probation Service. Saqib was also issued with a five-year sexual harm prevention order that bans him from contacting the victims and having any unsupervised contact with any girls under 16.