A woman who waited two years to see the man who sexually assaulted her put behind bars says she is still a prisoner as the courts let him walk free.

The mum-to-be was so outraged at her attacker’s ‘pathetic’ sentence at Bradford Crown Court last week she waived her anonymity to talk openly to the Telegraph & Argus. Malika Khan, who is expecting her first child in January, said she has been let down by the courts.

She was horrified when 20-year-old Imran Khushall, of Hartington Terrace, Lidget Green, Bradford, was sentenced to a three-year community order with supervision instead of being sent to prison. Khushall, who pleaded guilty to the sexual assault, was also banned from having any contact with her and was ordered to sign on the sex offenders’ register for five years.

He had also stolen her necklace, bracelet and ring. She later spotted them in a pawn shop which helped detectives track him following the assault in September 2008.

“It makes me sick to the stomach that’s all the sentence he got,” said Miss Khan. “I am still the prisoner and he is the free man. There’s no justice in that.

“Because he pleaded guilty it was taken into account and he got a lighter sentence. It’s pathetic. People go to prison for driving without a licence yet this monster goes free.”

Miss Khan was assaulted after a night out with her sister and a group of other people, one of whom was Khushall. The incident occurred at her sister’s flat.

Miss Khan, 31, said: “I still blame myself for part of what happened. I had been drinking that night. I was drunk but I thought I should have been safe because of the people I was with and where I was. I will pay for that for the rest of my life.”

In response to Miss Khan’s criticism of the time it took the case to get to sentencing, a Crown Prosecution Service spokesman said: “We take pride in the way we deal with cases of this nature and have a specialist team of lawyers who work closely with the police to ensure no stone is left unturned in bringing these matters to justice.

“We are sorry that this complainant is feeling further distressed at the length of time the case has taken to come to a conclusion, and we can fully appreciate that this may seem to have added to her initial ordeal.”

Miss Khan is now writing her own story and plans to send it to groups campaigning for harsher sentences for sex offences.

She also wants her local MP David Ward to pressure Government leaders in a bid to get courts to toughen up.