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Bit taken back by this.

Mrs JMP, 6 September, 2008 at 14:38 Posted on Off Topic Posts 0 8
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I went out earlier to collect MrJMP's dry cleaning, as I do each Saturday.

Local Dry cleaners who we have used since living here - 7 years. Run by two young muslim guys, one very devout & one more liberal.

Know the 2 guys to say hello etc... chat about weather, news . They always ask JMP his opinion on markets blah blah blah.

They did me a favour a couple of weeks back & altered. Miss JMP' blazer for school free of charge

Anyway back to today, saw that a couple of people waiting, so went next door to paper shop to pay bill & saw on the counter our local paper with headlines 'Sex Shame at Dry Cleaners'

THE owner of a dry cleaners has been placed on the sex offenders' register after sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl in his Brentwood shop.

Shehzad Abbas, 26, has also been ordered to attend a sex offenders' group programme, pay £500 compensation to his victim and £1,400 in legal defence costs after groping the young girl.

Abbas was alone in Brentwood 2hr Dry Cleaners in Ongar Road with the local girl while he was altering her skirt.

The girl – who cannot be named for legal reasons – was in her boxer shorts when the assault took place on September 5 last year.

The girl's statement to police said: "He started to sort out my boxer shorts trying to straighten them using his finger. He moved his hand around the band and then touched the top of my thigh near my private parts.

"He said nothing and when I said I felt uncomfortable he took his hand away."

Judge Christopher Mitchell urged Abbas at this week's sentencing at Basildon Crown Court to employ a female assistant to avoid similar situations arising in the future.

He added: "There is no doubt she was made to feel very uncomfortable and was in quite a state when she left your shop."

Described as a "devout Muslim" Abbas, of Grove Road, Walthamstow, will remain on probation for the next 36 months and have to complete 80 hours unpaid community work.

Abbas will stay on the sex offenders' register for five years.

The sex offenders' register holds details of all those convicted or cautioned for a crime in England and Wales under the 2003 Sexual Offences Act.

I'm gobsmacked & to be honest unsure what to think.

I feel sorry for him & think that why would a 16yr old be in underwear in the shop?

I feel cold to think that someone now on the sexual offenders register has been near my child

Do we continue to use them?

8 replies

Latest activity by bettyb, 6 September, 2008 at 18:18
  • tickle
    Beginner October 2008
    tickle ·
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    There probably has been more than one sex offender near your daughter since she has been alive.

    I would not stop using them,they have provided you a good service in the past.If it worries you do not send your child there alone.

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  • sherry
    Beginner May 2009
    sherry ·
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    If they provide a good service then i'd continue using them. Just (as tickle says) don't allow your children to go there on their own for alterations.

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  • M
    Beginner November 2007
    MarineGirl ·
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    Total aside from the point of your post, but... the opposite of devout is not liberal. It is perfectly possible to have liberal views and not be any less devout then others.

    With regards to whether to use the shop again, it depends on your view of the situation. Personally, I wouldn't give my business to someone who had assaulted a child - but I'd try to make my decision on that based on more than the local rag's write up.

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  • E
    Beginner May 2005
    Ellena ·
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    The way it's been written sounds to me as though it could have been a simple misunderstanding and he didn't mean anything.
    However, the court will have heard all the evidence and decided he should be punished.
    I would also continue to go there but not send and children alone.

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  • C
    Beginner June 2002
    cjb ·
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    Very difficult to make a judgement based on what is written in a local newspaper, but you would have to question why a 16 year old would stand in her underwear in a shop. Would a 16 year old be naive enough to allow herself to be talked into taking her skirt off there and there to have it altered? Seems unlikely but I suppose some would.

    I wouldn't worry at all about them being near your child...

    On an aside, does anyone else think that seeing 'her boxer shorts' written seems weird? I'm sure they were only boys undies when I was a kid!

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  • Knownowt
    Knownowt ·
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    What a strange story. I would continue to use them.

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  • M
    Beginner
    Mrs JMP ·
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    My Child is 4 - so not really going to be going places on her own.

    As for local paper stuff - that I ignore.

    Fact is - an incident happened that involved a child & someone who I would say is quite a genuine person - but the incident has resulted in an offence being registered. on the sex offenders register - The finer details we won't & don't know.

    If you knew the location & layout of the shop - you would be amazed it happened - it's an open plan shop with floor to ceiling windows on a main road at the junction of a crossing point in constant use, as it's the high st.

    I think what I'm trying to say to myself is, it's not affecting me using the service they provide, but on the other hand had it been a place I don't use, I would choose not to step foot inside.

    It's not like he was convicted of a drugs offence or theft, which I think in a odd way is more acceptable IYKWIM?

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  • Moomoo
    Beginner July 2008
    Moomoo ·
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    If i'm completely honest, i don't think i'd use them. not because i can back it up with some serious reasons, or because i want to chase him from his homes with a flaming brazier, but just because i would feel uncomfortable while i was in there as i'd find myself reflecting on it.

    equally, i'm not sure this is the right thing to do, but i thought i'd be honest about what i would probably actually do (or not do).

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  • bettyb
    Beginner July 2006
    bettyb ·
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    WSS. It sounds like an incident that could of easily been mis-interpreted and leaves too many things to question to be able to form an opinion or not.

    I think I would continue to use them.

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