Man jailed over sexual assaults at nursing home

Fazal Mateen has been jailed for 23 months at Bradford Crown Court

A nursing home support worker who sexually assaulted both a colleague and a "highly vulnerable" resident has been jailed for 23 months.

Fazal Mateen, 45, committed the offences when he worked at Burger Court in Bradford, a residential care home supporting adults with mental health needs and learning disabilities, a hearing at the city's crown court was told.

Despite pleading guilty to two counts of sexual assault, the hearing heard how Mateen, of Tivoli Place, Bradford, continued to deny the offences.

Sentencing Mateen on Friday, His Honour Judge Christopher Smith said those who worked in the care sector knew they had a "responsibility to protect" those who lived in places such as Burger Court.

The court had been told that the first offence, against Mateen's co-worker, had taken place in June 2022 when he took the woman's hand and placed it on his crotch.

That incident was not reported until the woman found out about a second sexual assault the defendant had committed a year later, it was heard.

The assault involved a resident who was described by Judge Smith as "inherently vulnerable" and with "complex mental health problems", who was unable to manage her own care.

Judge Smith said Mateen had found the woman alone just before midnight and he had tried to take her hands and move them towards his crotch.

He also inappropriately touched the woman, "making a comment on what she was wearing", the judge said.

"A few hours later you warned her not to tell anyone," he told Mateen.

'No remorse at all'

In his defence, Mateen submitted what appeared to be an employment reference from an unnamed local councillor, recommending him for any unspecified role and praising his enthusiasm.

Judge Smith refused to accept the document as mitigation, but did grant the defendant some credit for his early guilty plea, which he said spared the "highly vulnerable" nursing home resident from giving evidence under cross-examination.

However, the judge criticised Mateen's lack of remorse, telling him: "In your case, there is none at all."

"The pre-sentence report makes for worrying reading. You told the probation officer that these things hadn't happened," Judge Smith said.

"It feeds into the risk that you are thought to pose."

Mateen was told he would serve about half his jail term.

A number of other restrictions would also be placed upon him following his release, include a ban on working with children and contacting his victims, the judge added.

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