Asylum seeker jailed after attacking lone women

An asylum seeker has been jailed for three years for sexual offences against three lone women in the street.

Afghan national Sohail Amiri, 30, tried to kiss them in separate incidents in Southampton in 2025, pushing one against a letterbox and another into a bush, the city's crown court heard.

Amiri was living at Southampton's Highfield House Hotel, which has been the subject of repeated anti-immigration protests.

He pleaded guilty to two sexual assaults, one attempted sexual assault and was also sentenced for entering the UK illegally on a small boat in 2023.

Gary Venturi, prosecuting, said the married father of two targeted his first victim as she walked to work in Westwood Road at about 06:30 BST on 23 September.

She sprinted away after Amiri approached from behind, nudged her and urged: "Just give me one kiss, just one kiss," the barrister said.

Amiri attacked a second woman in the same street that morning, again demanding a kiss, Venturi continued.

She was pushed against a letterbox, but resisted and Amiri walked away.

The third victim was a university student walking home in Upper Shaftesbury Avenue shortly after midnight on 25 November, Venturi said.

Amiri bumped into her from behind, complimented her and asked for a kiss before grabbing her wrist.

He forced her against a bush and "pushed himself against her, kissing her on the face multiple times", Venturi added.

"When she tried to run away, Mr Amiri grabbed her wrist again, this time shoving her against some bushes, forcing her into the bush, holding her tightly."

The woman had to resit her university year because of the anxiety the attack caused her, the prosecutor said.

Amiri, whose father was murdered by the Taliban, has lodged an appeal against the initial refusal of his asylum claim, the court heard.

He suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and epilepsy and feels "genuinely remorseful" about the attacks, the court was told.

As well as the prison term, Amiri was handed a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years.

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