“Predatory” man preyed upon

A man who targeted and preyed upon vulnerable Toowoomba women, while delivering food and pretending to be an Uber driver, including a 16-year-old girl, has been released into the community

A court heard that a “predatory” man who preyed upon vulnerable Toowoomba women has spent too much time in custody and was sentenced in a way to save the refugee from being deported.

The 26-year-old man, Nasir Ilyas Kicho, was sentenced before the Toowoomba Supreme Court on Friday, May 16, after he spent 240 days in presentence custody.

Kicho pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting three women, which occurred in Toowoomba between July 2023 and March 2024, and included the deprivation of liberty of a young woman and a common assault charge.

After entering his pleas, he told the court he was “so sorry”.

During the first sexual assault, he was working as a Door Dash Driver, the second woman he met at a local pub, and he was posing as an Uber driver during the third sexual assault.

The court heard that the first victim of Kicho was a 16-year-old girl, whom he solicited and sexually assaulted in July 2023 after delivering her Door Dash order.

During the somewhat protracted incident, Kicho grabbed the teenager’s breast and vagina, and forcefully kissed her a number of times despite her vehemently protesting and pushing the man away.

He demanded the girl’s number and Facebook details, handed her a $50 note, and told her he would come back the following day after he was spooked by the teenager’s roommate.

The court heard the police were called straight away, and when they questioned Kicho, he said it was the teenager who made advances on him, and that he gave her the $50 as charity and because he “liked the way she looked”.

He eventually admitted to kissing the girl on the forehead, but not the lips.

The court heard the second sexual assault occurred in March 2024, against a 42-year-old woman he met while drinking at a Toowoomba brewery, before offering to give her a lift home.

During the incident, Kicho grabbed the woman’s breast and repeatedly touched the woman’s thighs despite being told to stop.

The woman told him to stop the car because she needed to get out.

The court heard the third sexual assault was committed against a young woman who was waiting for an Uber in the Toowoomba CBD after leaving her friends at a bar.

The woman realised something was wrong when Kicho began driving in the wrong direction, before he stopped at a bottle shop where he kissed her before locking her in the car.

She began messaging her friends that she was in trouble and needed help.

Kicho then drove to his home, pulled her into a small room at the back of the property, and directed her to sit on a floor mattress while he poured a drink.

She then sent a location drop from her phone to her friends before Kicho realised and grabbed her phone.

Police soon arrived to find the hysterical young woman by his car.

Kicho told the police he offered the woman a lift as a gesture because she had no money, and she had ordered him to buy alcohol or else she would report him to the police for sexual assault.

Crown Prosecutor Peri Cardiff said Kicho deliberately targeted vulnerable women, and the Toowoomba community utterly denounced the very serious and concerning crime.

Ms Cardiff submitted Kicho be sentenced to 439 days in custody, or an 18-month jail term, urging against him to be convicted and not further punished.

She conceded he had spent a longer period in custody than the courts would ordinarily impose for the crime, however given the serious nature of the crime, a strong message of denunciation was needed.

Barrister Nathan Edridge urged Judge Craig Chowdhury to structure Kicho’s sentence in a way to avoid triggering the Migration Act.

Australia’s Migration Act states a non-citizen can be deported if they have been in the country for less than a year and are sentenced to a jail term of a year or more.

Mr Edridge said Kicho came to Toowoomba as a refugee in 2022, after living in a Kurdistan refugee camp for about 8 to 9 years, noting his wife and daughter were still there with about 10,000 other refugees.

He said Kicho’s family went to the camp in 2013 after the Islamic State killed 45 people in their village, and he had since lost his father, brothers, and grandfathers.

If deported, Mr Edridge said the risk to Kicho would be “detrimental,” given his faith.

Mr Edridge submitted a nine-month jail term, taking into consideration 207 days Kicho spent in custody rather than the entire 439 days.

He argued that when looking at similar cases before the courts, Kicho had spent more than double the amount of time that would ordinarily be imposed.

Prosecutor Cardiff disagreed with the length of the jail term, pointing to a similar case where the defendant was sentenced to an 18-month jail term.

After adjourning the sentence to review past cases of a similar nature, Judge Chowdhury sentenced Kicho to a nine-month jail term, taking into account 276 days he served in custody.

He said the crime was alarming, and women should be entitled to get home safely.

Judge Chowdhury said he served more time than usual, which equated to a two-year jail term, with half of the time served, noting that offenders who plead guilty to their crimes are entitled to a reduced penalty.

Kicho will be released from custody unless the Department of Home Affairs reviews the case and uses its discretion to review the man’s visa.

He is expected to remain in Toowoomba with family members.