Shoe fetish man receives suspended sentence

Mechanical engineer Omar Abd-el-Gowad, aged 26, had been fascinated with shoes since he was a boy, Inner London Crown Court heard.

He even moved from the north of England so he could be nearer to the Jimmy Choos and Malono Blahniks worn by women in London.

Abd-el-Gowad, of Stillness Road, Honor Oak Park, skillfully removed single shoes from the feet of eight terrified victims and took the footwear home to indulge in bizarre sexual practices.

He had denied sexually assaulting one woman and the charge was dropped after a jury failed to agree on a verdict at a trial.

Judge Colin Smith sentenced Abd-el-Gowad to 12 months in jail, but suspended the term for two years.

He also placed Abd-el-Gowad under supervision for two years, with a condition he attends a sex offenders' group programme to rid himself of his "fixation".

The judge told Abd-el-Gowad: "There is absolutely no doubt these were extremely frightening and traumatic occasions for the unfortunate women victims concerned.

"They would suffer from shock at the time and a degree of psychological upset and trauma."

'Governed by the drive...to get hold of the shoe'

The judge added: "I am quite satisfied you had absolutely no intention of harming the women physically in any way at all and you were being governed by the drive which was within you relating to your urge to get hold of the shoe.

"It is a regrettable feature of the case that although you are a highly intelligent man you didn't realise just how serious your conduct had become.

"My main concern is to protect women from these kinds of attacks and the emotional trauma they cause.

"I am wholly satisfied the offences were caused by a serious and longstanding psychological disorder which to some extent has really dominated your private life for many years.

"It is essential, in your own interest and in the interest of the public at large and women in particular, that you take the very best treatment and advice to rid yourself of this unfortunate fixation."

Abd-el-Gowad's eyes filled up with tears on hearing he would not be going to jail.

Earlier, the court had heard how he became sexually attracted to shoes as a 12-year-old and the obsession came to dominate his life.

He tried to have normal relationships but was always more interested in his girlfriend's shoes than he was in her.

'Month-long spree of perversion'

Abd-el-Gowad built up a collection of hundreds of pairs of shoes and moved from Stockton-on-Tees to London to further his interest.

He admitted his obsession turned him into a "monster'" when he grabbed shoes from eight women in Southwark and the City of London during a month-long spree of perversion.

Prosecutor Toby Fitzgerald said: "He said this was the trigger for him to go beyond simply taking shoes when they weren't worn but to take them by force from the women concerned while they were wearing the shoes concerned."

Victim Alice Elgie, 34, told how she was returning home from Honor Oak Park train station after a night out when Abd-el-Gowad spotted her stylish footwear on September 8 last year.

She said: "I hadn't been walking along the road for long when I became aware of footsteps behind me getting closer and quicker.

"I felt a man grab me from behind, almost in a rugby tackle around my waist.

"My left shoe was removed by upending me somewhat, tipping me quickly to one side by my elbow.

"I think he fleetingly touched my left leg, the outside of my thigh.

"I was terrified, it was absolutely terrifying as I thought something a lot worse might be about to happen."

Before she realised what had happened, Abd-el-Gowad was running away.

'Then I noticed my shoe missing'

She added: "Then I noticed my shoe missing. He seemed extremely skilled at what he was doing."

Ms Elgie had been wearing brown leather lattice-patterned pointed court shoes with a low kitten heel.

Another woman in her thirties said she thought Abd-el-Gowad was stalking her when she spotted him near her home on November 9 last year.

She said: "When I got to my front gate and I stepped onto the path with my right leg. As I went to bring my other leg to walk into the house, someone grabbed hold of me round my waist and I was bent slightly forward.

"I screamed but wasn't afraid as I thought it was one of the guys I lived with or knew having a joke.

"It lasted seconds but he seemed to lose his grip from around my middle and I felt a hand come down my leg and hold onto my ankle and he just took my stiletto off.

"The move down my calf wasn't as firm as the grip to my ankle."

She added: "It didn't hurt me and wasn't aggressive in any way, but it was well-practised, swift and quick and seemed as if he had done it before.

"Then he just bolted across the road and didn't stop running. It was bizarre, I was just dumbstruck.

"No-one has ever done anything like that to me before and I don't want anyone to do anything like that to me again."

The woman claimed he had sexually assaulted her but a trial jury could not agree on this and the prosecution offered no further evidence on the allegation.

When Abd-el-Gowad was arrested he immediately admitted to his obsession.

Mr Fitzgerald said: "He admitted over the years he had taken shoes for sexual purposes to masturbate and although he had done this less regularly in the past three or four years, he still did do this from time to time."

The fetishist said he got a massive adrenaline rush from his strange habit.

Abd-el-Gowad said he had not realised the impact he left on his victims.

'I felt like a monster'

He said: "It was only when I read the statements of my victims I felt like a monster.

"What I was reading was a description of someone I didn't recognise. I had convinced myself it was quite a minor thing I had been doing.

"I was in a state of denial. There is not a day goes by that I wish I had reached out and asked for help and not put my family and all the people I robbed in this position."

He added he was glad "the secret I have kept for so long" was out and being addressed.

Abd-el-Gowad admitted committing eight robberies between December 9, 2005, and November 11 last year.

Before sentencing him, the judge referred to a confidential psychiatric report which said Abd-el-Gowad problems may date back to when he was a baby.

The judge said there was a suggestion his mother would leave her shoes in his cot.

Both a psychiatric and a probation report recommended Abd-el-Gowad be given treatment rather than go to jail.

He had already served 138 days behind bars on remand.

The judge agreed with the pre-sentence report's author, who said of Abd-el-Gowad: "You are culpable in the sense you allowed your unusual sexual desires to outweigh the social boundaries required of you, with the result you invaded the individual freedom of the victims concerned."

And the judge added: "In every other respect you are of exemplary character and background.

"After a difficult childhood you did extremely well at school and ended up getting a first class degree at university."

The court heard Abd-el-Gowad is also popular with clients and colleagues.

The judge said: "I am satisfied you are extremely remorseful about what has taken place.

"I have found this an extremely difficult sentencing exercise.

"I must strike a balance between the importance of protecting women from this kind of wholly unacceptable behaviour on the one hand and the need to give you the clearest opportunity to get over this debilitating psychiatric disorder on the other hand."