Algerian migrant who sexually assaulted vulnerable schoolgirl, 16, in an alleyway is spared jail
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.
- Algerian migrant Sofiane Belasri, 41, given suspended sentence for assaulting teen, 16
- He plied her group with alcohol before the assault near Liverpool Street station
- Police are reviewing the sentence; he was already an overstayer in the UK
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Sofiane Belasri, 41, an Algerian national living in Hackney, was convicted at Southwark Crown Court of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl and inappropriately touching her friends near Liverpool Street station in July 2024. He had overstayed his right to remain in the UK since 2017 and had previous convictions.
The case has drawn attention because Belasri received a suspended two-year sentence rather than immediate imprisonment, alongside a decade on the sex offenders register and restrictions on approaching under-18 girls in public. Sentencing decisions in cases involving sexual offences against minors, particularly where the offender does not go to prison, often prompt public debate about how the courts weigh such crimes.
The story also touches on wider issues around immigration status, as Belasri's overstaying is likely to feature in discussions about migration and criminal justice. Police have said they are reviewing the sentence, which may affect how the case develops.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Those defending the court's approach would argue that sentencing is properly the product of a judge weighing the specific facts, guidelines and mitigating circumstances rather than public reaction, and that this case involved sexual touching rather than a more severe offence such as rape, which affects the applicable sentencing range. They would point out that a suspended sentence is not a light-touch outcome: it comes with a ten-year listing on the sex offenders register, a decade-long exclusion from approaching girls under 18 in public, and a mandatory rehabilitation programme, all enforceable with the threat of immediate imprisonment for any breach. They might further argue that criminal sentencing and immigration status are separate legal matters, and that conflating the two risks distorting sentencing principles to satisfy public or political pressure rather than the facts of the individual case.
The case against
Critics would argue that a sexual assault on a vulnerable, intoxicated sixteen-year-old by an adult man is a grave offence that warranted immediate custody, and that a suspended sentence risks signalling insufficient seriousness about crimes against children. They would highlight aggravating factors – the victim's youth and intoxication, the deliberate supplying of alcohol and vapes to facilitate the offence, and the defendant's previous convictions and years of unlawfully overstaying his visa – as strong grounds for imprisonment rather than suspension. They may also note that the police's own decision to review the sentence suggests the outcome struck many, including those within the justice system, as inconsistent with the gravity of the crime and the need to maintain public confidence in the protection of children.