A CARPET fitter has been jailed for 12 months for grabbing a householder's breasts while they moved furniture around upstairs at her Bradford home.

Shamoon Arshad’s explanation that he fell on top of her in the cluttered room and had nowhere else to place his hands except her chest to get up was dismissed as “ridiculous” by Judge Ahmed Nadim.

Arshad, 33, of Westfield Road, Heaton, Bradford, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the woman several years ago on the day of his trial in November last year.

Prosecutor Ian Howard told Bradford Crown Court yesterday that Arshad, a carpet fitter by trade, was at the house to measure up and lay carpets.

He asked the woman to help him move furniture around upstairs and while doing so he took several items of her underwear out of a drawer and made sexualised comments.

He then held her by the shoulders and offered to massage her before trying to kiss her, pinning her against the wall and grabbing her breasts.

Arshad then laid the carpet and tried to kiss her again on his way out, Mr Howard said.

The woman complained to her partner and he was arrested.

He denied any wrongdoing, saying the room was so crowded with furniture that he fell on top of the woman. Because the floor was full he had to place his hands on her chest to get up.

Arshad’s barrister, Matthew Harding, said he had no previous convictions and had not committed any offences since the assault.

He was a hardworking family man and his wife was in poor health.

Mr Harding conceded that the offence passed the custody threshold but urged the court to suspend it.

But Judge Nadim said Arshad’s explanations to the police and his probation officer did not inspire confidence in his character.

The offence was a breach of trust after he was invited into the house.

“It undermines the confidence of the public to admit tradesmen into their homes for work to be carried out.

“You have violated that trust by conducting yourself in the manner that you did.

“Having let you in, she was at your mercy,” the judge said.

“It would be an affront to the law if you were not required to serve the sentence immediately,” he concluded.

Arshad was jailed for 12 months and he must sign on the sex offender register for ten years.