Food delivery man who sexually assaulted student given suspended sentence

By Jessica Magee and Eimear Dodd

A food delivery man who “abused the trust” of a student who had ordered a takeaway by sexually assaulting her has received a suspended prison sentence.

Arslan Cheema (29) of Brookview Avenue, Artane, Dublin 5, pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault carried out in a car outside student accommodation in the city centre in April 2021.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court previously heard that the injured party was 19 at the time and had been on first-name terms with Cheema, from whom she ordered regular takeaways.

In a victim impact statement, which she previously read to the court, the student addressed Cheema, saying he had destroyed her self-image and her confidence.

“You hurt me so much; no one can even begin to imagine what you have done to me,” the young woman said.

She said she was devastated after the assault and scrubbed her hands so hard they bled.

“I felt so disgusted with myself. I had a breakdown. I ended up in hospital,” said the woman, who added that she was put on anti-depressants and anti-psychotics, which made her gain weight and feel like a zombie.

Imposing sentence today, Judge Orla Crowe said there was a “level of familiarity, comfort and trust” between Cheema and the victim, which he abused.

She said the aggravating factors included the breach of trust and the impact on the victim.

She said the victim impact statement described the “profound” effects on the woman, who “thought she could trust him [Cheema] and he abused that trust”.

The judge said the court was “mindful” that it could not “undo that damage” through the sentencing process.

Judge Crowe said Cheema’s apology when contacted by the woman’s friend that night “rang hollow to this court”, however, she noted that he had “belatedly” recognised the harm caused to the victim.

Having considered the mitigation, she imposed an 18-month sentence, suspended in full on strict conditions for a period of three years.

Judge Crowe said the suspended sentence would “hang over him in terms of his behaviour” and warned that if he comes to negative garda attention during this period, the court “may take a different view”.

The judge noted Cheema will also be on the sex offenders’ register.

Detective Garda Conor Mackey previously told Lisa Dempsey BL, prosecuting, that the woman told gardaí she had been collecting food at the front gate of the student complex where she lived at the time.

She said it was dark on the night and the weather was not great, so she got into the passenger seat of the parked vehicle.

The woman told gardaí that Cheema placed her hand on his penis and tried to kiss her.

She said she felt very uncomfortable and was “frozen and shook”, guessing it lasted around 10 seconds.

The woman asked Cheema, “What’s wrong with you?” and he said he hadn’t had sex and his partner was pregnant.

She said there was some proposal by him that they get into the back of the car, and he grabbed her face and tried to kiss her.

She told him to get off her, and she left the car, slamming the door.

CCTV footage was obtained, which showed the victim getting out of the car, looking upset, and slamming the door.

The student went back to her apartment and notified her friend and then gardaí.

Her flatmate described her as sobbing, upset and in a state of shock.

The flatmate rang the restaurant where Cheema worked and was eventually put through to him.

He said he was really sorry and didn’t mean to hurt her.

Cheema, whom the injured party referred to by his Snapchat name “Charlie”, then sent her a message on Snapchat saying he was embarrassed and sorry.

She responded by telling him to leave her alone, and then she got a missed call and blocked his number.

The student told gardaí that while she would have chatted to him before on a friendly basis, she didn’t want to touch or kiss him.

Cheema was arrested and gave gardaí a different account, saying they were friendly and that he felt they could talk about “sexual stuff”.

He said he was sorry if he had hurt her, but he didn’t believe he had done anything she wasn’t happy with and that she had been smiling and joking.

He has no previous convictions.

Gda Mackey agreed with Michael D Hourigan SC, defending, that Cheema was “downplaying” it but pointed out that there is often “belated recognition” by an offender and that he had pleaded guilty.

He regularly sends money to his mother in Pakistan and has a young child, counsel said.

A number of references were handed into court on his behalf.

Mr Hourigan asked the court to consider imposing a suspended sentence with strict conditions.

He told the court today that Cheema had lost his job since the previous hearing due to publicity associated with this case.