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A woman has described the moment she was sexually assaulted by a car wash employee when she took her car in to be cleaned.

Sarah Barnes, 42, from Cardiff, was assaulted by pervert Azad Hassan when she visited a car wash in the car park of Asda in Pentwyn in July.

She said the attack left her feeling “angry” and “frustrated”.

Hassan, 43, of Crwys Road, Cardiff, appeared at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court on August 30 where he was given a community order and ordered to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for five years after he pleaded guilty to sexual assault.

After her ordeal at the hands of Hassan, Sarah waived her anonymity and has come forward to tell other victims of sexual assault that they have “nothing to be ashamed of”.

Talking about the assault itself, Sarah said: “I drove into the car wash and Hassan, who was serving me, told me to pull my car around the other side, separating me from the other person who was working there.

“It was at that point he leant into the car and touched my breast, had a good squeeze of it, and said ‘Nice’.

“I didn’t react at all, I ignored the whole thing because I was in a state of shock, you don’t think that anyone is going to do that.

“He then touched my leg and was stroking it, saying ‘You’ve got a dog there on you’. I leant over to get cash out and as I got out the car he touched my breast again.”

Not knowing what to do Sarah went to Asda and told one of the employees about what she had been through.

She said: “I spoke to one of the managers there and she was just lovely. She sorted out the whole thing and told me what I needed to do. I wasn’t in the right frame of mind, I couldn’t believe it had just happened. I felt angry and frustrated.

“The police were brilliant, they were amazing. I was the one kind of downgrading it because it wasn’t an intrusive sexual assault but the police woman assured me and said he didn’t have the right to do it. They were really good.”

After the court case Sarah called Hand Car Wash, where the assault happened, and spoke to the manager, who told her that Hassan had been sacked.

She said: “I hope (Hassan) can never work where there are lone females again. If he goes back to be a car wash attendant it’s not a protected job, he can go back and do it easily.”

When asked what advice she would give to victims of sexual assault, Sarah urged them to contact the police so the perpetrators could face justice.

She added: “I would say don’t back down from it. I wouldn’t have rung the police if it wasn’t for the Asda manager.

“I just wanted to notify someone. She said I really needed to ring the police and that Asda were appalled at what he had done.

“You should definitely report them, there’s not enough people doing that and people are getting away with it.

“Hold your head up high because you have nothing to be ashamed of. I just think if it was someone younger who wasn’t as strong, things could have gone further. You need to nip it in the bud.”

Masud Fazel, owner of Hand Car Wash, confirmed that Hassan was no longer working for the business.

He said: “He’s not working here anymore and I apologise for what happened. I never thought he was like that otherwise I would have never employed him.

“As far as I knew he was a nice man but it’s not a normal thing he has done and I’ll never ever employ him again.”

Video provided by the Crown Prosecution Service