A MARKET stall holder left a woman terrified and psychologically damaged after he grabbed her in the street and would not let go.

Kashif Malik, of Maple Avenue, Kidlington, avoided jail after admitting an assault which caused Sarah Jamaludin actual bodily harm on May 10 this year.

Prosecutor Jonathan Stone said the young woman spotted the 31-year-old defendant staring at her after she got off a bus in West Way, Botley, at about 9pm.

He said Malik ran towards her and grabbed hold of her arm, causing his victim to scream and shout for someone to help.

The prosecutor said Miss Jamaludin managed to struggle free but the defendant grabbed her again, telling her: “It’s all right, I’m not a bad person, come with me.”

He said the woman then broke free and ran away “as quickly as she could” without looking back.

Mr Stone said Miss Jamaludin had not suffered physical injuries but the assault had caused her “psychological” harm.

He said: “She is constantly checking around her, she doesn’t trust people in general, she can’t return to the road to use the shops.”

Mr Stone added that she also suffered from nightmares and could no longer travel at night.

Legal guidence on the Crown Prosecution Service website states that psychological harm can amount to ABH.

Jane Brady, defending, said her client, who runs a market stall in central Oxford, had been drinking heavily and became lost in an area he did not know.

She said: “He boarded the wrong bus and found himself in Botley, where he had never been before, totally lost, desperate and panicking.”

Miss Brady said the father of three, who has previous convictions for drink driving and driving while disqualified, was devastated and ashamed by what he had done.

Judge Ian Pringle told him: “Whatever your motives were, in what you did you terrified that young lady. I’m going to suggest if drink has that effect on you, Mr Malik, don’t drink.”

Malik was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for 18 months, with 120 hours of unpaid work, a supervision requirement and a thinking skills programme.

He will also have to pay a £100 victims’ surcharge.

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