Anthony Jalam’s victim later told police she thought she was going to die during the attack in which she was trapped between a parked car and wall, hit four times to the head and forced to perform a sex act.
Jalam was jailed on Tuesday for four-and-a-half years by the Superior Number – which convenes for the most serious of cases – after pleading guilty to indecent assault and assault on the 22-year-old woman.
Outlining the case, Crown Advocate William Redgrave said that Jalam ‘was determined that she would give him oral sex and he would not take no for an answer. She was effectively his prisoner for a 20-minute ordeal, during which he assaulted her both sexually and violently’. He added that Jalam was an ‘impulsive and dangerous’ person, who posed a threat of serious sexual harm to young women.
Jalam (28) and the woman, who had been out celebrating her father’s birthday, met for the first time only a few hours before the assault, which happened in the early hours of 23 March.
CCTV footage was played to the Royal Court, which showed Jalam and the woman – who had drunk several pints as well as spirit-based drinks throughout the night – walking away from Havana nightclub kissing and hugging.
The pair continued to kiss when they entered a car park on the corner of Hilgrove Street and Hilary Street, however when Jalam attempted to lift her up the woman pulled away.
When the woman attempted to leave, Jalam pushed her, picked her up and carried her over his shoulder to a space behind a parked car.
‘Once they were behind the car it would have been impossible for her to escape from the other side,’ Advocate Redgrave said. ‘There was only one way in and out. She was cornered.
‘And for the next 20 minutes the defendant made sure that she did not get away. He did this by blocking her way, by threatening and by using violence.’
A passer-by alerted the police after hearing the woman’s cries. When they arrived seven minutes later they heard the woman ‘whimpering’ and found the defendant crouched over her, with his jeans around his knees.
In a statement given to the police shortly after the attack, the victim said: ‘I remember being hit on the right side of my head and crying… It was really hard and made my head jolt.
‘He was abusive telling me I’m a b**** and stuff. I was saying “sorry” and telling him to “stop it” and that I wouldn’t tell anyone.’
Jalam, who is originally from South Yorkshire, has several previous convictions, including possession of an offensive weapon, domestic violence and burglary.
Advocate James Bell, defending, said that his client wished to offer his sincere apology to his victim.
He added: ‘There was some consensual kissing in the car park but he does accept that when the lady did not want the intimacy to continue he became frustrated and failed to respect her wishes.’
Alongside his prison sentence, Jalam was given an eight-year restraining order banning him from contacting his victim and a two-year exclusion order barring him from licensed premises.
Addressing Jalam, the Deputy Bailiff, Tim Le Cocq, said: ‘This was a nasty and sustained incident in which you forced a woman that you had met earlier that evening into the corner of a deserted car park and subjected her to threats, aggression and a sustained indecent assault. She will carry the effects of your predatory aggression for a long time.’
Jurats Robert Kerley, Suzanne Marett-Crosby, Charles Blampied, Geoffrey Grime, Jeremy Ramsden and Peter Morgan were sitting.
Speaking following the sentence, Detective Inspector Steve Langford said: ‘This was a particularly brutal sexual assault on the defenceless victim. Today’s sentence sends out a strong message that sexual violence of any nature will not be tolerated in our society and offenders can expect the full weight of the criminal justice system to come down on them if they choose to offend. The victim in this case has been incredibly brave in coming forward and taking a very public stand against sexual violence.’
TWO sentencing cases were yesterday before the Superior Number of the Royal Court.
In one, the bench had to decide what punishment fitted a truly shocking crime. Anthony Jalam (28) had attacked a woman before sexually assaulting her. Her witness-impact statement revealed she thought she was going to die and fears that she will never be free of the nightmare.
In the other, a 21-year-old man with no previous drug convictions stood in the dock convicted of a drug offence. Steven Buchanan had been caught minding a package of heroin. He claimed that he did not know what was inside.
Both are offences which the courts rightly take seriously and relate to matters of deep public concern, but which should carry the harsher sentence?
It is hard to believe that anyone – even those who understand just how pernicious heroin and other potentially lethal drugs are – would not think the former deserving of a longer jail term.
And yet the two offenders received the same sentence, four and a half years behind bars.
For the second time in a week, a failing in the justice system has been highlighted.
On Friday, the Royal Court jailed Wayne De Lima after he smashed into the car of Olly Newman, a talented surfer and musician, leaving him with such severe head injuries that he cannot walk or talk. The defendant was driving at up to 84 mph and with no insurance. He was jailed for 12 months for dangerous driving.
It is appalling that the same failing has tied the hands of the court. In both cases, there was no provision to increase the sentence because of a statutory cap.
The violent sexual predator who forcefully penetrated a women’s mouth with his penis escaped a longer prison term because what he did is not classed as rape under Island law, as it would have been in England. He was charged with indecent assault, a name which fails to convey the violence of this terrible crime.
Crown Advocate William Redgrave, prosecuting, said the Crown believed that Jersey should adopt the UK position, where the maximum sentence for rape is life imprisonment.
Laws, especially those which dictate sentencing policy, will win community backing when they have the support of the public. Legislators have a duty to make sure the community is safe from those who have no right to be free.
It is time someone in the States pressed for reform. They should be pushing against an open door.
