"She tried to pull away and he put his hand around the back of her head"
Wine bar boss Sundeep Passi, aged 51, of Lower Hopton, Kirklees, West Yorkshire, was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman who was under the influence of alcohol.
Kirklees Magistrates’ Court heard he gave her cash to buy Jagerbombs before grabbing and kissing her.
Passi was the owner of The Office bar in Mirfield where the victim also worked.
The incident happened in the early hours of June 9, 2019, at the Wilson Arms pub in Huddersfield Road, Mirfield.
The prosecutor Samuel Poniah explained: “Mr Passi entered the pub and gave her £20 telling her to buy Jagerbombs.
“He went to whisper something in her ear and kissed her lips, putting his tongue in her mouth.
“She tried to pull away and he put his hand around the back of her head, preventing her from doing so.”
The woman gave evidence through a live TV link. It was heard she had been out with friends in the town and had drunk around 10 gin and tonics by the time she got to the pub at 1 am.
She said at the time of the incident, she placed herself at an eight on a scale of one to 10 on how drunk she was.
The woman told the court: “He got us all some Jagerbombs, he supplied us with more alcohol.
“I remember him whispering something in my ear. He pulled my face towards him and kissed me.
“He put his hand on the back of my head and moved my head to face him.
“When he put his hand on the back of my head he put his tongue into the back of my mouth.”
“I didn’t understand what was going on. I remember at one point trying to back off but because his hand was on my head there wasn’t much I could do.”
The woman sobbed as she explained to magistrates:
“I was unresponsive, walking around not really knowing where I was.
“He took advantage of me being drunk. It didn’t occur to me until after the incident the severity of the situation.”
A male friend of the woman said that he saw Passi kiss her on the mouth and this lasted for 10 seconds.
The wine bar boss claimed he had a fuzzy recollection of the incident but said it was due to fatigue and not drinking too much.
In his interview, he told police that he may have kissed her but did not remember.
Sundeep Passi was found guilty of sexual assault. He was cleared of a second count of sexual assault and attempted sexual assault regarding another woman.
According to The Examiner, magistrates ordered a full report ahead of his sentencing hearing on August 15, 2019.
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