A 33-year-old man has been sentenced to over three years in prison after admitting to strangling and sexually assaulting a woman in Cardiff city centre.

The incident occurred in the early morning hours of May 12 last year. The victim had been on a night out and left Pulse nightclub on Churchill Way around 4am, heading toward the Cathays student area.

Fawaz Alsamaou followed the woman as she walked home and attacked her beneath a railway bridge near Salisbury Road. He grabbed her by the neck and sexually assaulted her. The victim managed to push him away after several seconds and fled the scene before contacting police.

Police identified Alsamaou through CCTV footage and arrested him in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, where he had been residing.

At Newport Crown Court on October 31, the prosecution shared a victim impact statement describing the lasting effects of the attack. The woman reported experiencing severe anxiety, difficulty sleeping, recurring nightmares, and an inability to leave her home for two weeks following the incident. She was unable to return to work for two to three months and said her social life and mental health had been significantly affected.

“I’m always looking over my shoulder and thinking the worst,” she stated. “This isn’t something you can just recover from.”

Defense attorney David Pinnell noted that despite entering guilty pleas at the earliest opportunity, Alsamaou maintained his innocence, making mitigation challenging. He added that his client would likely face deportation following conviction.

Alsamaou, from Lockwood, Huddersfield, pleaded guilty to sexual assault and intentional strangulation. He has no prior convictions in the UK.

Judge Celia Hughes condemned the attack during sentencing: “It was a horrible attack on a woman alone at night in Cardiff. She was entitled to walk home alone at night without being attacked by you, a predatory man.”

The judge sentenced Alsamaou to 37 months in prison and noted he would likely be deported after serving his sentence.