Hartlepool takeaway owner jailed for sex attack on teenage girl

Family man Kashmir Nanan, 52, was also banned for life from contacting the teenager who is still affected by the attack.

But a court heard that Nanan, who used to run Shearers in Merlin Way, Hartlepool, still denies the offences despite being found guilty by a jury.

It has also been revealed that Nanan had been jailed for six years in 2001 at Newcastle Crown Court for offences of involvement in illegal immigration.

But he has now returned to prison after his latest offence was heard at Teesside Crown Court.

The court heard the case was delayed after he was taken ill in India.

Nanan, who must now register as a Sex Offender for life, went to prison still claiming that she had led him on after turning up with a bottle of vodka.

The girl said in evidence that Nanan touched her over her clothing.

She was interviewed first on video in which she said that he had engaged her first in sexual talk and he had then touched her in a sexual way.

He said in his defence that she was a fantasist and that she had made it all up.

Nanan, of Seaton Lane, Hartlepool, was found guilty of sexual assault.

A family member who was searching for her found her distressed and crying in the street.

She persuaded her to talk to her mother and the police were contacted.

Nanan denied her allegations, and he told police that she had stolen his vodka and drank it and that she had also stolen £20.

Paul Cleasby, defending, said that it was an isolated incident and there had been no previous or subsequent complaint about his conduct.

Judge Stephen Ashurst told him through a Bengali-speaking interpreter: “Not only was it an assault on her body, but on her personal dignity.”

The judge told Nanan, who was convicted of sexual assault by a 10 to 2 jury majority after a three-day trial: “You could have relieved her anxiety by admitting your guilt at an early stage.

“It is a matter of concern to me that you continue to deny it to the Probation Service in what they say in your report.”

Nanan was jailed for three years, ordered to register as a sex offender for life, and given a restraining order banning him indefinitely from contacting the girl.