Cardiff University Master’s student found guilty of sexually assaulting customer at SU bar

A Cardiff University Master’s student has been found guilty of sexual assaulting a customer at an SU bar.

Amit Patil, a 26-year-old graduate from the School of Data Science and Analytics at Cardiff University, was working his first shift at a Students’ Union bar last summer when he sexually assaulted a customer by reaching under her skirt and groping her over her underwear.

Patil denied the sexual assault and any physical contact but has since been found guilty at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court after Deputy District Judge Gareth Williams said his “implausible” claims were undermined by the CCTV footage and the victim’s “credible” account.

The defendant told the court how he grew up in India and moved to Cardiff in 2023 for his Master’s and that he had been “restocking” the bar and had not been drinking himself on the night of the incident.

He said: “My shift ended and I wanted to go home, so I left the storeroom and walked through the main room”.

According to Wales Online, Robert Chudleigh, defending, asked Patil if there was any physical contact as he passed the woman, to which Patil said: “No. I don’t think so. I don’t remember…”

Adding: “There was no contact.”

When asked if he was certain that there was no contact, Patil replied: “Yes” and claimed he did not see the victim as they passed each other. However, he did add that after he passed the woman he had felt her grab his shoulders from behind and claimed he was confused as to why she did this.

Cardiff Magistrates’ Court where the trial took place, via Google Maps

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Patil was then cross-examined by prosecutor Alex Dubljevic who asked: “It was quite a crowded room wasn’t it? So to make your way around you would have to look where you were going. Why didn’t you see her?”

He replied: “In my thought I just wanted to go home.”

The prosecutor accused Patil of placing his hand under the victim’s skirt and putting two fingers onto her underwear, saying: “I’m going to put it to you that you were walking out of the bar, you saw this pretty girl with a short skirt, and something went through your mind. You decided to touch her vagina.

“You took an opportunity as you thought you would get away with it because it was dark and there was loud music.”

Dubljevic said the defendant’s fingers then “ran up”, to which Patil replied: “No, I did not do anything. My only thought was to go home.”

After the assault, the victim immediately turned around and confronted Patil. Police then arrived and arrested him.

Mr Chudleigh pointed out that Patil had no previous criminal convictions and asked the judge to consider that the victim “may have been weary” after a long day and had drunk six or seven alcoholic drinks.

He added: “She [the victim] conceded that alcohol being in her system may have had an impact on her recollection of events.”

However, Judge Williams described the victim, who had given evidence the previous day, as a “credible and truthful” witness who “recalled events with clarity and was not hazed by alcohol consumption.”

Adding: “She was sure in the answers she gave.”

However, whilst the CCTV did not clearly show the sexual assault, Judge Williams said it showed that there was enough space for Patil to pass the victim without going so close to her. He added that Patil had failed to explain why the victim had immediately turned around and reacted with anger after he passed her.

Judge Williams was said to be unimpressed by Patil’s decision to give a no-comment interview to police, which he claimed was partly because there was no Hindi interpreter available, Wales Online reported.

The judge said: “I accept English is not your first language but you have answered questions today in English and it appears to me you have followed the trial with relative ease. Your evidence is not credible.

“She described a deliberate upward movement of your fingers over her genital area. She categorically stated the touching was not accidental. The upward movement is indicative of a deliberate action. It is not possible that could happen by accident or chance.”

Patil showed no emotion as the judge found him guilty of sexual assault.

His solicitor then told the court that Patil’s visa expires this month, adding: “His plan was to return to India at that point but he recognises the authority of the court and wouldn’t seek to leave the jurisdiction.”

Judge Williams has adjourned the case to next month for a pre-sentence report to gather more information about the defendant.

Featured image via LinkedIn