Fawaz Alsamaou

On the night of 12 May 2024, chilling CCTV footage captured the moments leading up to a harrowing sexual assault in Cardiff city centre. Fawaz Alsamaou, a 33-year-old asylum seeker from Syria, was seen casually navigating the Pulse nightclub, an LGBTQ+ venue, before targeting his victim.

The footage, released by South Wales Police, shows Alsamaou, dressed in a gilet, white t-shirt, and jeans, wandering near the entrance and cloakroom before entering the busy dancefloor. Later, as the woman left the club, Alsamaou followed her unbeknownst to her, walking closely behind as she hurried from the city centre towards the Cathays area.

At Newport Crown Court, during a sentencing hearing on Friday, 1 November 2024, the court heard how Alsamaou trailed his victim to a railway bridge near Salisbury Road. There, around 4am, he grabbed her neck, pulled her towards him, and sexually assaulted her by putting his hand under her dress and grabbing her crotch for seven seconds. The woman bravely pushed him away and fled the scene, promptly contacting the police.

• Alsamaou was identified as a suspect through a CCTV appeal on BBC Crimewatch.
• He was arrested in Huddersfield, where he resided after arriving in the UK from Syria, by officers from West Yorkshire Police.
• He admitted to charges of sexual assault and intentional strangulation.

The assault has profoundly impacted the victim, as detailed in her victim impact statement read by prosecutor Ms Tabitha Walker. She described constant fear, stating: "I'm always looking over my shoulder and thinking the worst. At the start I couldn't work and I didn't leave my house for two weeks. I feel uneasy when it's dark outside." She further noted the effects on her mental health and social life: "It has really affected my social life and I don't go out like I used to. I suffer with my mental health generally but this incident really hit that harder. I can barely sleep and I have nightmares relating to it."

Judge Celia Hughes sentenced Alsamaou, of Swan Lake, Lockwood, Huddersfield, to 37 months in prison. With no previous convictions in the UK, the judge remarked that he is "highly likely to be deported" upon completion of his sentence. This case underscores the vigilance of South Wales Police in pursuing such offences through CCTV evidence and public appeals.