No retrial for footwear fetishist

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/london/6545339.stm

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A man who stole women's shoes to feed his "sexual obsession" will not face a retrial on a sexual assault charge.

Omar Abd-el-Gowd, 26, of Stillness Road, Honor Oak Park, south-east London, admitted eight robberies.

But jurors at Inner London Crown Court failed to reach a verdict last week on a charge of sexual assault.

The Crown Prosecution Service said it was not in the public interest to proceed with the retrial. Abd-el-Gowd is due to be sentenced at a later date.

Irresistibly attracted

A spokeswoman for the Crown Prosecution Service said the decision not to re-try the case was taken "having discussed the matter with the complainant and taking into account all the circumstances".

During the trial the court heard Abd-el-Gowd's foot fetish began when he was staying with his father one Christmas at the age of 12.

He found himself irresistibly attracted to a pair of shoes belonging to a female house guest and took them to his bedroom whenever he could.

As he grew older his desire for women's shoes increasingly dominated his life and became stronger when he moved from Stockton-on-Tees in north-east England to London.

Lifting up feet

He also told police that he got more of a rush by taking them while they were still being worn.

He would approach victims from behind before quickly lifting up one of their feet and fleeing with one of their shoes, the court heard.

It was claimed on one occasion he "sexually caressed" the calf and ankle of one of his victim's.

Abd-el-Gowd told the court: "I wasn't sexually interested in her, it was her shoes".

The case will next be heard at the same court on 18 April.