{"id":531131,"date":"2026-04-14T23:10:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T23:10:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/531131\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T23:10:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T23:10:13","slug":"woman-asked-for-help-when-her-phone-died-what-he-did-left-her-in-tears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/531131\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman asked for help when her phone died, what he did left her in tears"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yaaqob Saleh refused to ‘take no for an answer’ after the woman was left stranded following a St Patrick’s Day night out\"Yaaqob<\/p>\n

Yaaqob Saleh, of Wendell Street, aged 20(Image: Merseyside Police)<\/p>\n

A shop worker has been jailed after sexually assaulting a customer who sought refuge in his store when she was left stranded in the city centre following a night out. Yaaqob Saleh’s victim was left crying and “curled up into a ball because she was so upset” as a result of his persistent and predatory attack.<\/p>\n

While he previously refused to accept his guilt, he now admits he “let himself down” during the alarming incident. But a judge today told him his “very, very late expression of remorse” held “very marginal weight” as he was locked up over his refusal to “take no for an answer”.<\/p>\n

Liverpool Crown Court<\/a> heard this afternoon, Tuesday, the complainant had been out with friends in Liverpool city centre<\/a> in order to celebrate St Patrick’s Day in March last year before seeking to take a taxi home alone. However, with her phone having run out of battery, she went into Liverpool One Newsagents and Convenience Store on Whitechapel seeking assistance.<\/p>\n

Helen Chenery, prosecuting, described how Saleh, of Wendell Street in Toxteth<\/a>, was working behind the counter and allowed her to charge her mobile so that she could book a taxi. The 20-year-old defendant invited her to sit near to a heater on steps beside the till and, after serving a customer, sat down next to her.<\/p>\n

Saleh, who was then aged 19, then began to touch her thigh and asked for a kiss, although she refuted his advances. He however managed to kiss her on the cheek and, having dealt with another shopper, sat back down and put his hand up her skirt, touching her vagina over her clothing.<\/p>\n

When Saleh then went to serve another customer, the victim curled up in a ball and began to cry. When her phone was eventually sufficiently charged, she was able to contact a friend and left the store.<\/p>\n

In a statement, she said: “Since this incident, I’ve experienced a wide and overwhelming range of emotions. Anxiety, depression and anger have been the most persistent.<\/p>\n

“In the weeks and months following the assault, I began to struggle deeply with sleep. I still suffer from regular nightmares, which cause me frequently to wake throughout the night. These episodes have created a fear of sleep and a constant feeling of emotional exhaustion.<\/p>\n

“One of the most significant effects has been the loss of my independence. Before the assault, I was confident and self assured. I felt safe travelling alone, making decisions for myself and simply existing in the world. That sense of security has been stripped away.<\/p>\n

“I now rely on my parents to meet me or accompany me when going out. I constantly feel as though what happened once could happen again. This loss of independence brought with it an overwhelming sense of grief. I felt as though a vital part of my identity had been taken away without my consent. My self worth deteriorated. I began to feel as though my body was somehow wrong or repulsive, and I blamed myself.<\/p>\n

“These thoughts have spiralled into regular suicidal ideation and a serious dependency on self harm as a coping mechanism. I became emotionally detached from reality and deeply distrustful of others. Even the people trying to help me felt suspicious.<\/p>\n

“I also felt deep anger. I was angry at the perpetrator, but also angry at the world. I kept asking myself, why me? I never found a satisfying answer. That question stayed with me every day.<\/p>\n

“In an attempt to cope, I began drinking excessively. I used alcohol to temporarily silence the pain and hatred I felt, but this only deepened my feelings of isolation and damaged many of my close relationships. I felt tired and unwell most days.<\/p>\n

“Where I used to have energy and drive, I began to struggle to complete basic tasks or get out of bed. This incident has impacted almost every part of my life. It has changed the way I view the world and the way I view myself.”<\/p>\n

Saleh has no previous convictions. Katie Lord, defending, told the court: “It is, of course, serious offending, an offence which has had a serious impact on the complainant. He has been advised of the fact that the court will be considering all options, including custody. He is realistic.<\/p>\n

“It is a case where, I concede, that the custody threshold has been passed. I am going ask your honour to step away from imposing immediate custody. He presents, as the Probation Service helpfully outline, with identifiable rehabilitative needs.<\/p>\n

“In my submission, they can be addressed in the community if he has the option to be under close supervision. His youth and immaturity are material features. It is clear that those are factors which have led to his offending.<\/p>\n

“There is real work to be done in respect of the causative factors that have caused the defendant to act in the way he has. He tells me it is out of character and not in his nature. There is work to be done in understanding the reasoning. He has got family to support him. He seeks employment.<\/p>\n

“A community based sentence, in my submission, would allow these necessary interventions. It is unlikely that he would have access to that level of rehabilitative intervention in prison. In my submission, society is best served by this defendant being subject to intensive supervision in the community, as opposed to a relatively short spell in custody.”<\/p>\n

Saleh, who was assisted by an interpreter during the hearing, was found guilty of one count of sexual assault following a trial in the magistrates’ court<\/a>. He later sought to appeal his conviction before the crown court, but subsequently abandoned this bid.<\/p>\n

\"Yaaqob<\/p>\n

Yaaqob Saleh outside Liverpool Magistrates’ Court(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n

Appearing in the dock wearing a black Under Armour tracksuit, Saleh was handed 12 months in a young offenders’ institute. He was also told to sign the sex offenders’ register for 10 years and handed a four-year restraining order.<\/p>\n

Sentencing, Judge Dennis Watson KC said: “She had been out celebrating St Patrick’s Day with friends, but, at the end of the evening, she came into a shop where you were working. She did that because her phone was dangerously short of charge and, indeed, ran out of charge.<\/p>\n

“So it was that she came to you for assistance. She had been drinking and was on her own and vulnerable by reason of the circumstances in which she found herself. Very quickly, you decided to proposition her sexually.<\/p>\n

“You tried to persuade her to come around the other side of the counter, where she would be warmer. You asked her for a kiss, touched her thigh. All the while, she was saying to you that she did not want to be kissed by you or touched by you.<\/p>\n

“Even when a customer came in and you served the customer, you went back, because there is a real element of you not taking no for an answer. There is this other element of persistence by you. On this separate occasion, you touched her, as Ms Chenery put it, on her crotch, as the author of the pre-sentence report put it, on her vagina but over her clothing, which had the instant effect of causing her to curl up into a ball because she was so upset.<\/p>\n

“However young or immature you are, you would know that your behaviour, in doing what you did, was wrong. There was a trial at the magistrates’ court. You gave evidence and denied the offence. Very belatedly, you have written a letter saying you understand that your offending has consequences, that you have let yourself down and you have expressed remorse.<\/p>\n

“This is a case, I regret, where the very, very late expression of remorse means that it has very marginal weight, particularly when you have given evidence and completely denied the offending at the magistrates’ court. I regret to inform you that I have concluded that the circumstances of this offence and everything I know about you means this that is an offence where only immediate imprisonment is the appropriate punishment.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Yaaqob Saleh refused to ‘take no for an answer’ after the woman was left stranded following a St…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531132,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1343,924,59,57,58,2347,50,7804,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-531131","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-kingdom","8":"tag-courts","9":"tag-crime","10":"tag-gb","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-greatbritain","13":"tag-liverpool-city-centre","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-toxteth","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom","18":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=531131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531131\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/531132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}