Syrian asylum seeker jailed for four years for Falkirk sexual assaults

A Syrian asylum seeker has been sentenced to four years in prison for sexually assaulting two women in Falkirk, Scotland, in what a sheriff described as deliberate and predatory attacks. Muhammad Sheikhi, 23, was sentenced at Stirling Sheriff Court on Monday, August 10, 2026, after being found guilty by a jury in May.

The assaults occurred in the early hours of Sunday, November 30, 2025, near the Hotel Cladhan where Sheikhi had been staying. He targeted his first victim, a 22-year-old woman, at a railway bridge on Kerse Lane. According to evidence presented at trial, he hugged her, repeatedly kissed her, and put his hands under her skirt. Shortly afterward, he assaulted a second woman, aged 21, in the same lane and at the nearby Bellsmeadow skate park, where he pinned her against a tree and put his hands under her clothing. Both women had been walking home alone after nights out in the town center.

Sheriff Keith O'Mahony sentenced Sheikhi to four years, a term he said was at the upper end of his sentencing powers given the seriousness of the crimes. The sentence was backdated to December 2025, when Sheikhi was first remanded. He was also placed on the sex offenders register...