A seedy shop worker who smacked the bottom of a young girl while she was looking for chocolates to buy for her mother has been branded a “dirty old man”.
The girl spotted some Ferrero Rocher chocolates that she thought would be an ideal treat but her kind gesture turned nasty when the shop assistant saw his chance to take advantage of her. The incident left her scared and her mother later demanded to see CCTV pictures of the unpleasant and creepy encounter, Hull Crown Court heard.
Ram Kusadia, 69, denied sexually assaulting a child under 13 in October 2022 but he was convicted by a jury after a trial that ended on January 31 this year. He had been on bail awaiting sentence since then.
Stephen Robinson, prosecuting, said that a girl went to a shop in Calvert Lane, west Hull, with a friend because they had some money to spend. “She did what any child might do on a quiet Sunday afternoon and went into a local shop to buy some sweets,” said Mr Robinson. “They left their bikes outside and went in.”
Kusadia was working there and he was behind the till. The girl decided to look for some chocolates for her mother. She saw some Ferrero Rocher and thought that they were quite cheap at £1 each. Kusadia told her that they were £5 and the girl challenged this.
“He suggested that they go and check the prices,” said Mr Robinson. “They went to that section. She says that, as they were looking at the prices, the defendant smacked her bottom. The defendant smacked her bottom a second time.
“She was wondering whether to buy a different item and, again, there was a discussion over prices, with the suggestion from the defendant that someone had swapped the prices around in the shop.
“Again, the defendant smacked her on the bottom. After, he went to the back of the store where the ice cream was. The defendant had been standing behind her before each smack. She bought some sweets and left. She complained immediately and went home and told her mother about it.”
The girl originally thought that her friend might have smacked her but the friend denied it. The girl and her mother went to the store. The mother confronted Kusadia while the girl stayed outside. He said: “No police. I’m sorry.”
Mr Robinson asked why Kusadia would say sorry if he had done nothing. The girl was scared and her mother demanded to see CCTV pictures.
“He took her into the back and showed her the screen for CCTV,” said Mr Robinson. “She asked how it worked. He said he didn’t know. He said to her: ‘No police’.”
The mother did ring the police and they arrived shortly afterwards.
“CCTV showing footage of one of the incidents was recovered by a police officer,” said Mr Robinson.
The incidents of touching were “no accident”. Kusadia was arrested at the shop and he was taken to Clough Road police station. During police interview, he apologised for what happened and said that he had no sexual motivation and that it was a mistake. He claimed that he had not touched the girl intentionally and that he touched her only once and did not know whereabouts on her body that he had done so. “When shown that footage, he again said it was a mistake,” said Mr Robinson.
Judge Gurdial Singh told a sentencing hearing at Grimsby Crown Court: “I have seen the video. You are a dirty old man touching a 10-year-old on her bottom deliberately on two occasions. The girl told police how scared she was and she was crying her eyes out.”
Judge Singh said that Kusadia did not present a risk or danger to the public and he was of previous good character. “I am mindful of his age and his health and also mindful of what he did,” added Judge Singh.
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Kusadia was given a nine-month suspended prison sentence but with no requirements. He was given a 10-year restraining order and he must register as a sex offender for 10 years.
“I don’t want to find you working in a family shop serving teenagers,” said Judge Singh. “If you do, you will be in breach of that order and could face a sentence of five years in prison.”
Kusadia, of Beckett Road, Leicester, was banned from working in a shop where there are any female staff under the age of 16 years and from serving any girls under 16 years.
He was also told that he could not live at any property where there was a girl or girls under the age of 16 years. He was banned from working, either voluntarily or paid employment, which would bring him into contact with a girl under 16 years.
Kusadia turned up at Hull Crown Court instead of Grimsby but, after liaison between the two courts, it was arranged for him to join the hearing via a video link from a Hull courtroom. He was helped by an Indian Gujarati interpreter.