A 27-year-old Qatari camel herder has been found guilty on two attempted rape charges with his victim being left "frozen with fear" during the attacks.
Nasser Al-Gherainiq was convicted at Southwark Crown Court following an assault that took place at a private medical facility connected to Royal Brompton Hospital in south-west London.
The defendant, who had travelled to Britain for specialist heart treatment, attacked a woman by forcing her into a toilet cubicle at the medical centre.
Al-Gherainiq joins a long list of foreign offenders in UK prisons, now representing nearly one-in-eight (12 per cent) prisoners in our overcrowded jails.
Al-Gherainiq received a seven-year sentence
Met Police
The Qatari national comes from a conservative Bedouin tribe in Qatar's desert regions, where he worked herding camels with minimal exposure to urban or contemporary life.
The court heard he had never left Qatar before arriving in the UK in 2023 for treatment of a rare cardiac condition.
His barrister described him as having had little interaction with the outside world prior to his journey to London.
Speaking through an Arabic interpreter during proceedings, Al-Gherainiq appeared in court wearing standard grey prison clothing.
Al-Gherainiq assaulted the women at Royal Brompton Hospital
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Defence counsel characterised him as "equivalent to an immature and inexperienced adolescent" who came from what they described as a different era.
The defence argued that profound cultural differences meant Al-Gherainiq did not understand how to interact with women and "completely failed to understand" his victim's "true feelings".
His legal team claimed he was unaware the woman had not consented when he pulled her into the toilet cubicle and attacked her.
However, the jury dismissed the arguments.
Al-Gherainiq was convicted at Southwark Crown Court
PA
The judge told Al-Gherainiq: "You knew perfectly well what you were doing.”
The case raised several unanswered questions about how Al-Gherainiq arrived in Britain, who funded his medical treatment and travel, and his accommodation arrangements whilst in London.
Al-Gherainiq had spent over a year on remand before standing trial, having first appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court in August 2023 after his arrest.
He was sentenced to seven years in prison.