A man who carried out a terrifying sexual assault on a woman as she was sleeping rough in Bradford city centre has been jailed for 13 months.

A court heard today that the shocking incident was only stopped when a female passer-by saw what was happening and intervened.

Drunken Irfan Ramzan, 37, was arrested nearby by police officers and eventually pleaded guilty to a charge of sexual assault following the incident last year.

Prosecutor Nick Adlington described how Ramzan’s victim was alcohol dependant at the time and was asleep in a sleeping bag when the defendant “straddled” her and began kissing and biting her.

Mr Adlington said Ramzan tried to put his tongue down her throat and also put his hand inside her top.

He said the female passer-by ran over and shouted at Ramzan to get off the complainant.

Bradford Crown Court heard that the woman suffered a cut lip in the incident and Mr Adlington said it had had a devastating impact on her.

He read from her victim impact statement in which she described feeling embarrassed and ashamed about the incident and said she suffered every day with memories of it.

Ramzan, of Prospect Place, Bradford, had no previous convictions for sexual offending and his barrister Jeremy Barton said there could be no excuses for his client’s behaviour that day.

He explained that alcohol was at the heart of Ramzan’s offending and he was ashamed of what he had done.

Mr Barton revealed that one of the reasons for Ramzan’s alcohol abuse had been the murder of his cousin who had been a politician in Pakistan.

Judge Kirstie Watson was urged to consider a suspended prison sentence, but she said one could only imagine how utterly terrified the complainant must have been when she woke up to find the defendant on top of her.

She said the passer-by had very bravely run over and shouted at Ramzan to get off.

“The victim impact statement has been read out to this court and the impact on her has been devastating,” said the judge.

“We don’t know what would have happened had that member of the public not been there to stop you.”

The judge said it would be wrong to suspend Ramzan’s prison sentence and she also told him that he would have to register as a sex offender with the police of for the next 10 years.