A Lewisham man has been cleared of kidnapping a woman and dragging her into an alleyway in Lee, after a jury at Woolwich Crown Court found him not guilty of three charges.
Houari El Hilali, 34, was acquitted on Wednesday of kidnapping, committing an offence with intent to commit a sexual offence, and one count of sexual assault. Jurors were unable to reach a verdict on a second count of sexual assault, and were discharged.
The case will return to court on 25 November, when prosecutors will say whether they intend to seek a retrial on the remaining charge.
Prosecutors had told the court that El Hilali followed a young woman along Brandram Road, in Lee, after seeing her outside a shop on Lee High Road, and dragged her into an alleyway. They said the attack might have escalated further had two members of the public not intervened after hearing the woman scream.
Prosecutor Warwick Tatford told jurors that El Hilali had taken a fancy to the woman when he saw her outside the shop.
The jury’s not-guilty verdicts, confirmed by court staff, bring the trial to a close on three of the four counts. The outstanding sexual assault charge remains undecided, and no finding has been made on it.
Under UK law, complainants in sexual offence cases are entitled to lifetime anonymity, and the woman in this case cannot be identified.
A decision on a retrial will be made at the hearing on 25 November. If prosecutors do not seek one, the case will end; if they do, a new trial would be listed at a later date.
In another recent London court case, a rabbi was convicted of sexual assault and is due to be sentenced at Harrow Crown Court in January. Two men were also convicted of spying for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and are due to be sentenced at the Old Bailey in December.
