A takeaway restaurant worker has been banned from delivering to an area of Worcester after sexually assaulting a young woman.

Father-of-four Altaf Hussain, 47, of The Hill Avenue, Battenhall, gave the woman a lift home after work late at night because it was raining, Worcester Crown Court heard.

He parked near her home on the night of the offence, December 31, 2013, and gave her some cannabis to smoke before grabbing her breasts over her clothing, Mohammed Hafeez prosecuting, told the court.

The woman, who was far younger than him, had previously told him she had a partner.

Hussain pleaded not guilty and was cleared by a jury of another sexual assault on the same woman but they failed to reach a verdict on the second charge. After a retrial, he was found guilty.

Because of the retrial, he had now spent 18 months on bail, Ian Suggett, defending, told the court.

He said Hussain still did not admit that he had done anything wrong and if he was sent to jail, he would not be able to provide for his young family.

At a sentencing hearing, Judge Abbas Mithani QC, who presided over the retrial, said the woman had not complained at the shop because it was her first job and Hussain was a valued employee of long-standing. He had taken this as a sign to carry on.

“He first engaged in sexual banter with her then touched and groped her,” the judge said. “She told him she was repulsed because she had no interest in men.”

He assaulted her while she was vulnerable. It was late at night and she was in his car which he had parked at an isolated place he had carefully chosen.

He gave Hussain a jail sentence of six months and imposed a restraining order for three years banning him from going near the woman or her home address.

He said it would be a “no go area” for him and any future takeaway deliveries there would have to be allocated to another driver.

Hussain was also ordered to register as a sex offender for ten years.