Hassan Abou Hayleh, a 39-year-old Syrian asylum seeker, was convicted of sexually assaulting a vulnerable 19-year-old woman in the early hours of 18 December 2022 in Weymouth, Dorset. Hayleh, who had arrived in the UK in 2020 and was living in the town, drove around the town centre at 3am searching for drunk and vulnerable women to target. CCTV footage captured him stopping his car near the victim, who was sitting alone on the pavement outside a nightclub, waiting for her father to pick her up after a night out.
According to court proceedings at Bournemouth Crown Court, Hayleh approached the young woman, helped her up from the ground, and then molested her by placing his hands down her trousers and inside her underwear. He subsequently asked her to get into his car, but she refused and shouted for help from three passers-by, alerting them that he had touched her inappropriately. Her father arrived shortly after Hayleh drove off, finding his daughter distraught and crying in the company of the strangers.
Hayleh was arrested and, during police questioning, claimed the incident was a misunderstanding. He asserted that he had stopped to assist the woman whom he saw lying by the roadside, that she had hugged him, and that her trousers were down exposing part of her bottom, prompting him to pull them up. However, Judge Robert Pawson rejected this account at a previous hearing, stating: "You were driving around in the early hours on a Sunday morning hoping that you would find exactly what you did find – a young and vulnerable drunk woman who you wanted to get into your car so that you could sexually abuse her." Following a trial in November 2024, Hayleh was found guilty of sexual assault. The judge remarked: "On the evidence before me you are potentially a very dangerous man. I shudder to think what might have happened."
Originally scheduled for sentencing on 17 February 2025, the hearing was adjourned after defence barrister Graham Gilbert argued that a custodial sentence could breach Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits torture, inhumane or degrading treatment. Gilbert cited a doctor's report received just days prior, highlighting Hayleh's post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) stemming from torture he endured in a Syrian jail under the regime of Bashar al-Assad. The lawyer contended: "He has several symptoms of PTSD which would be made worse by a custodial sentence. It would also be made worse without the support of his wife and friends. The court must work out whether a custodial sentence would breach Article 3 and be inhumane and degrading for him."
Judge Pawson, erring on the side of caution, adjourned the case for further assessment of Hayleh's condition, noting: "A lot of prisoners’ mental health gets worse during a custodial sentence. However we are going to take the upmost care and caution due to Mr Hayleh’s PTSD due to his time suffering torture in a Syrian prison under the Assad regime. Placing him in prison would provide echoes of that experience." Hayleh, who required an Arabic interpreter in court, was released on conditional bail until his next appearance in April 2025.
The case has sparked significant controversy, with political figures criticising the potential prioritisation of the offender's rights over public safety. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp described it as "outrageous that ECHR considerations are potentially preventing a dangerous sexual predator from being jailed," emphasising the need to protect women and girls. Former MP Marco Longhi and Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick echoed calls for reform of human rights laws, arguing that the offender should be imprisoned and deported. The incident underscores ongoing debates about balancing human rights obligations under the Human Rights Act 1998 with the imperatives of UK criminal justice.