A restaurateur accused of subjecting a pretty teen

A restaurateur accused of subjecting a pretty teenager to a
sex ordeal inside his shop has walked free after being cleared
by an Old Bailey jury.

The people in the public gallery cheered as Bahar Udin, 41,
was unanimously acquitted of attempted rape, false imprisonment
and indecent assault.

Udin, a married man of Birchdale Road, Forest Gate, had
denied the charges.

The prosecution claimed the 19-year-old was lured into Udin’s
restaurant, the Shulfa Tandoori in Chadwell Heath High Road,
with a bogus job offer.

After going inside to acquaint herself with the menu, Miss X
claimed he locked the door and began making sexual advances, which
she rejected.

Udin then forced himself on her, it had been alleged.

He refused to unlock the door and let her go until the road
outside was empty, the jury was told.

But in the witness box, Udin denied any impropriety with the
teenager.

The court was told that she did not make a formal complaint
about the alleged assault on August 30 last year until almost a
fortnight later.

And during the trial serious inconsistencies
emerged in her evidence.

The judge warned the jury of the dangers of convicting on
uncorroborated evidence and advised that the benefit of any
doubt must go to the defendant.

The jury deliberated for less than an hour before returning
not guilty verdicts.

ENDS