Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, Liberal Democrat Councillor for Shaw Ward and Leader of the Opposition on Oldham Council, has written to the Attorney General, The Rt Hon Michael Ellis QC MP, seeking an urgent review of the suspended prison sentence handed down by Tameside Magistrates Court last week to Javed Miah from Shaw.

Miah was convicted of a serious predatory sexual offence after he attacked a lone female in Oldham Town Centre.  The victim was able to raise the alarm via an SOS function on her mobile phone causing the offender to run away.

In his letter to the Attorney General, Councillor Sykes said:

“Following the recent tragic death of Sarah Everard, the continued safety of women on our streets from predatory males will, I am sure, be especially at the forefront of the minds of all involved with criminal justice at this time.  I am therefore disquieted to find myself in a situation where I feel compelled to write to you to seek your urgent intervention in a most disturbing case involving a predatory male who, despite being convicted of a serious sexual offence, was set at liberty by a local magistrates’ court.”

Miah was given a suspended sentence, rather than a custodial one, and Councillor Sykes goes onto say that “This offender can consequently now continue to pose a threat to my female constituents and to other women living elsewhere in Oldham.”