Landlord who sexually assaulted tenant escapes jail

A Dundee landlord who groped one of his tenants has escaped a jail sentence.

Married Popinder Jassal, 60, told the woman it was “love at first sight” when he met her, before trying to kiss her and then groping her.

Jassal’s victim started renting a property from him in August last year and that, shortly after, he had repeatedly visited to resolve small issues with the flat.

Dundee Sheriff Court heard that he often asked the tenant for hugs which she thought was “just part of his character”.

However on one occasion, Jassal asked if she would come to his house for drinks, mentioning something about love at first sight.

The tenant declined, telling him she wanted nothing more than a landlord-tenant relationship with him, and told a friend that the incident had made her feel “uncomfortable”.

Procurator fiscal depute Nicola Gillespie told the court that Jassal went to the property on 28 June last year, claiming he needed to measure a window for curtains.

After measuring the window and chatting to the tenant he asked for a hug and then tried to kiss her. The court heard that Jassal then blocked her in a corner of the room and tried to pull away her clothing and touch her breasts.
Miss Gillespie said: “She told him in no uncertain terms to leave.”

He then told her he wanted to see her breasts so that he could compare them to those of women in a porn movie he had been watching.

She again asked him to leave, which he did, and she contacted the police and the letting agency.

Jassal admitted sexually assaulting the woman between 3 August 2012 and 28 June 2013. He was deemed “not a fit and proper person” to be a landlord by Dundee City Council after the attack.

Despite facing a potential jail term, Sheriff Kenneth McGowan allowed Jassal to walk free. He was placed on the sex offenders’ register for 18 months, and sentenced to an 18-month community payback order with supervision and a condition that he attend a sex offenders’ programme.