A Dublin security guard has been sentenced to five years in prison for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl who had shoplifted a face mask and make-up brush from Penney’s Dundrum Shopping Centre
The victim, a 15-year-old girl, expressed feeling fearful and distressed following the incident.
According to Detective Garda Rachel Kiernan’s testimony in court, the girl was shopping with friends at Penney’s in Dundrum Shopping Centre on December 4, 2022.
After attempting to shoplift a make-up brush and face mask, the girl was apprehended while leaving and taken to a room where she was left alone with Abdul Rahman Mohammed.
Mohammed coerced the girl to send her friends away, accused her of concealing more stolen items, forced her to undress to her underwear, and touched her inappropriately.
Upon requesting to get dressed again, Mohammed allowed it and inquired if she would pay for the items. She agreed, leading him to instruct her to wait outside Penney’s for him.
Upon meeting in the shopping centre’s car park, the girl believed she owed €2.50 for the items, but Mohammed demanded €250 instead.
Unable to pay, the girl contacted her friends, who informed her that shoplifters were not required to pay security.
Despite Mohammed’s denial of the accusations, a jury found him guilty last February.
He attempted to argue that the girl and her friends were following him.
The CCTV footage from the room where the assault occurred was tampered with and unclear.
In a victim impact statement, the girl revealed that she was haunted by the memory of the assault, which left her feeling anxious and sad.
Judge Orla Crowe sentenced the 35-year-old security guard to five years behind bars.
