Man pleads guilty to sexual harassment

A 21 year old man has been sentenced after sexually harassing a woman who was walking her dog.

Abdallah Illewe, 22 from Syria, was arraigned before magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit this morning, on charges of sexual harassment and causing slight injury to the woman.  

The court heard Inspector Christabelle Chetcuti explain how the man had accosted his victim, while she was walking her dog in Birkirkara. He is understood to have grabbed the victim by the throat during the incident. Few details of the incident emerged in court, as the prosecution and defence approached the bench to discuss the case out of earshot of the public.

The incident occurred during the night of the 14th May.

Illewi, who is unemployed, pleaded guilty to the charges upon his arraignment.

The court, in view of his early admission and cooperation with the police, tempered his sentence, handing down an 18 month prison sentence, suspended for 2 years. A restraining order was also issued in favour of the victim.

Lawyer Jason Grima was defence counsel.