A 38-year-old Turkish man has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman at a Putney cocktail bar last year.
Mehmet Alakus, who works at a takeaway restaurant in Mortlake, was convicted on Friday at Kingston Crown Court following an incident at Tequila Mockingbird on 25 August last year.
The court heard that the victim was attending a friend’s 25th birthday party on a Saturday evening when she began feeling unwell. While it is suspected her drink may have been spiked, this was not proven in court.
After visiting the toilet, the young woman was followed and assaulted by Alakus. The incident was captured on the bar’s CCTV system and witnessed by staff members. Security personnel detained Alakus at the scene. The CCTV footage was subsequently used as evidence in securing his conviction.
The case highlights the growing importance of comprehensive CCTV coverage in late-night drinking establishments, particularly following the introduction of Wandsworth Council’s controversial new Cumulative Impact Policy (CIP) for Putney High Street.
The policy, which creates a presumption of refusal for new venues seeking late-night refreshment licenses between 11pm and 5am, was approved despite receiving support from just 20 people during consultation, with enhanced security measures including CCTV systems now essential components of license applications.
Tequila Mockingbird operates approximately 20 CCTV cameras throughout the premises, which proved instrumental in this case.
Alakus is scheduled to be sentenced on October 10. He faces a potential prison term of one to two years, though the judge may opt for a suspended sentence. He will be required to register as a sex offender.
It’s terrible that such things are happening anywhere. I hope the victim has had the care and support needed and is able to move forward from this.
As for the article itself, leading with the perpetrator’s nationality/race/religion is problematic; it is emotive and can fuel existing extremist views being applied to all who happen to also be of that same nationality, race, religion, culture etc. If the person were American/Israeli/Italian/German or basically any other majority white/“Western” country, I doubt that would be included, or at least not the in the title and the first word at that! Why was it important to the author to include the nationality? What does it add to the story?
Thanks for raising this — we take your point. We included the nationality because it was stated in court and so forms part of the official record, but we understand that leading with it can have unintended effects. We’ll bear this in mind when writing headlines in future, while still aiming to report accurately and responsibly.