By Clare Sibthorpe and Jessica McSweeney
A man who allegedly sexually assaulted a teenager at knifepoint near a Sydney train station in broad daylight has a history of approaching young people with weapons, and sexually inappropriate behaviour.
Police allege the 15-year-old girl was at Lidcombe train station about 10am on Sunday when 37-year-old Abdullah Allywa approached her and took her to a nearby carpark.
Abdullah Allywa has been charged with sexually assaulting a teenage girl. Credit: NSW Police
At the car park, police allege Allywa produced a knife and threatened the teen, stealing her phone. He then allegedly sexually assaulted the girl before she ran away.
On Monday, police arrested Allywa at Alice Street, Newtown, following an investigation assisted by the State Crime Command’s sex crimes squad. He was charged with aggravated sexual assault of a person under 16 and armed robbery with an offensive weapon.
Allywa was refused bail at Newtown Local Court on Tuesday, with Magistrate Alexander Mijovich noting his lengthy criminal history which includes violence.
The court heard Allywa had in the past approached a young girl in a train station with scissors, walked up to another young girl in a shopping centre, approached someone with a screwdriver, and asked a young male at a train station to suck his penis while he held a knife.
“All of the victims in his other convictions were unknown to the accused,” the prosecutor said.
“He seems to have no regard for public safety given his offending occurred in broad daylight in a car park. It’s very brazen offending. The accused is dangerous to have in the community.”
Mijovich rejected defence lawyer Sharmila Jordan-Mee’s argument that Allywa needed to be granted bail to care for sick family members and to get treatment for his health issues, including schizophrenia and an intellectual disability.
“He has strong community ties, but it is a strong prosecution case. He has a history of violence and a custodial sentence is highly likely,” Mijovich said.
“Protection of the community is paramount, cause has not been shown [for release], and bail is refused.”
Allywa will return to court on April 9.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.