THE owner of a Cinderford restaurant has been convicted of sexually assaulting a teenage girl when she went to pick up a takeawy.

Masum Khan, who runs the Curry Leaf restaurant in High Street, had denied groping the 15-year-old but a jury at Gloucester Crown Court found him guilty of sexual touching.

The court, sitting in Cirencester, heard that the 15-year-old girl was molested when she went to his restaurant on January 6, 2019 to pick up a takeaway that her father had ordered.

The prosecution described how Khan plied the girl with alcohol before kissed her and touching her breasts under her bra but Khan insisted she was making up the story.

James Tucker, prosecuting, told the jury that Khan first saw the girl when she popped into his restaurant on New Year’s Eve 2018 to say hello to a friend. “We say that Mr Khan then formed an attraction towards the girl and asked her if she would like to join him for drinks in the restaurant,” said Mr Tucker. “She declined, despite his repeated requests.”

Khan told the jury during his evidence: “I saw the girl on New Year’s Eve in 2018 when she was beckoned in by customers as she was walking past.

“I noticed what looked like a bottle of alcohol under her arm. I thought she looked a little drunk. When she came in I asked her if she would like a drink. It would have only been a soft drink as we no longer sell alcohol.”

Mr Tucker said that Khan took out bottles of gin and other spirits that had been not been on display and offered her some but she declined.

He told the jury: “He then took out a glass and poured some Malibu and topped it up with lemonade and encouraged her to drink it.

“He asked her how long she had been off on her school holidays – which confirmed that he knew she was under age. He continued to ask her to drink with him.

“The girl decided to go along with Mr Khan’s request and had a few sips of the drink he had poured. This played into Mr Khan’s hands as she had now done something she shouldn’t have done.

“He started to wave his fingers in circles in front of her eyes, at which point she began to get frightened. She was wearing a chunky jacket, but underneath she had a strappy top on.

“Mr Khan asked her if she was ticklish. At first she didn’t understand the question but then he started to touch her bare skin. He is alleged to have moved his hands up her clothing and started to touch her breasts.

“He pulled her jacket down and said to her he was going to give her an Indian massage. She continued to tell him no, but he gripped her shoulders and then put his hand down the front of her top and into her bra - his bare hand against her bare breast.”

The Bangladeshi-born restauranteur said he had run the Curry Leaf for 14 years and had known the girl since she was seven when her family started using it.

Under cross-examination he said: “I engaged in small talk with the girl while waiting for the food order to be prepared, during which I asked her about school and the Christmas holidays and poured her a soft drink.

“I mentioned to her that I saw her on New Year’s Eve and told her I thought she was a little drunk. In jest, I put a number of my fingers in front of her face and asked her how many I was holding up. I was joking around.

“She replied ‘I’m OK, I’m not drunk today’. I then asked her if she’d like a massage and she replied, ‘what’s that?’ So I and placed my hands over her shoulder. I didn’t think this was wrong, I was just being friendly.

“The massage demonstration was over her clothing and it lasted no longer than 10 seconds. I then tickled her on the waist, neither of these actions were not meant to be serious. She was laughing and giggling and didn’t tell me to stop.

“I do not know why she made these allegations up of me putting my hands down her top and squeezing her breasts as I treated her like my own daughter.

“The girl seemed happy when she left and when I asked her for a goodbye kiss she put her cheek forward and I kissed her to the side of her face.

“I first heard about the allegation when the police interviewed me. I felt really bad about this and embarrassed.

“I didn’t do the things the girl suggested. I admit I tickled her, but I was only messing around. I had no sexual intention in what I did.

Khan, of Buckingham Avenue, Cheltenham will be sentenced on September 15 following his conviction.