Man who sexually assaulted teenager and woman is jailed as police urge other victims to come forward
A man who targeted and sexually assaulted a schoolgirl and a woman on separate occasions as they walked alone has been jailed.
On the afternoon of January 16, Irtiza Abbas, aged 25, hung around near Aston University, Birmingham, and followed a woman who was walking alone.
He followed her along Dartmouth Middleway for a while to make sure she was on her own and there was no-one around before grabbing and assaulting her.
Abbas struck again in April when he followed a 15-year-old girl as she walked home in the Perry Barr area of Birmingham.
He was caught on CCTV cameras following her closely along a street and looking around to make sure he was alone.
Only once satisfied that there was no-one nearby, he grabbed the girl and assaulted her.
The victim rang a relative who was nearby and they drove around the area until they spotted Abbas and confronted him.
However, after a struggle, he managed to escape and fled the scene.
Police pieced together CCTV footage which linked the assaults together before identifying their suspect.
Irtiza Abbas, of Lozells Road, Birmingham, was arrested at his home on April 22 and officers recovered clothing matching the description in the video footage.
Despite not admitting guilt during police interview, he pleaded guilty in court. On Wednesday, June 5, he was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court to two years in jail.
West Midlands Police has now released CCTV footage of Abbas and urged any other alleged victims to come forward.
Det Insp Joe Davenport, said: "CCTV has shown him lingering on the streets and carefully selecting his victims. He would follow them to make sure they were on their own before he struck.
"Thanks to the support of the victims and their bravery and our teams’ efforts in tracing every single piece of CCTV that we could, we have managed to take a serial offender and a potentially dangerous man, whose offences were deliberate, methodical and repeated, off the streets of Birmingham.
"If anyone feels that something similar has happened to them and that they've not come forward before, we'd ask them to reconsider. Please contact me or one of my team and we promise that we will take your account seriously."
Any alleged victims have been asked to contact West Midlands Police via Live Chat on its website or by calling 101 and quoting crime number 20/412643/24.
