An Algerian migrant who sexually assaulted a 16-year-old schoolgirl in an alleyway near Liverpool Street station has been spared jail, receiving a suspended sentence instead. Sofiane Belasri, 41, approached the drunken teenager and her friends, bought them alcohol and touched her breasts before propositioning her friends for sexual acts in exchange for vapes; police say they are now reviewing the sentence.

Belasri, of Hackney, was convicted by a jury at Southwark Crown Court of sexual assault and sexual touching following the incident on 4 July 2024, and was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two years. He was also placed on the sex offenders register for a decade, banned for ten years from approaching females under 18 in public, and ordered to complete a rehabilitation programme, despite having previous convictions and having overstayed his right to remain in Britain since 2017.