Drink offered by historic sex abuser was "last thing victim remembers" before waking up in man's bed
“I have dreams where I’m screaming and no one can hear me”
A 75-year-old man is facing eight years in prison for sexually abusing a teenager in South Yorkshire in the 90s.
Lekram Seecharan, of Hornby Road, Blackpool, was found guilty of two counts of indecent against a girl over a number of occasions in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
It included a sickening incident where the victim was offered a drink, which she described as “the last thing she remembers” before waking up in the older man’s bed at 3.45am.
In the hours she was unconscious, she had been changed out of her clothes into a nighty, and woke up to find Seecharan in bed with her.
In the years since, Seecharan spent over a decade in New York, but his return to the UK around 2023 led to his victim coming forward to the police.
Seecharan denied two counts of indecent assault on a teenager, but was convicted by a jury.
In her victim impact statement, read out in court by Prosecutor Lauren Smith, the woman said: “I felt safe thinking he was thousands of miles away, but I feel paranoid knowing he is back. I feel like I have gone into panic mode.
“I feel like this has never left my mind.
“I was paranoid he would come looking for me.
“This has had a bad impact and inflicted trauma on my family.
“I have dreams where I’m screaming and no one can hear me.
“I feel like I have to be strong for my family.”
However, due to how the legal definition for indecent assault has changed since the offence, His Honour Judge Charles Thomas ruled he needed more time to determine if the starting point for Seecharan’s prison sentence is eight years or three - at which point it could be also be suspended under laws introduced in 2026.
Faced with a possible sentence of eight years in prison, defence barrister Mr Dermot Hughes appealed for Seecharan, aged 75, to instead receive a suspended sentence, describing him as a “isolated, physically frail” elderly man who could pose “no threat to anyone.”
Judge Thomas adjourned the case to November 20 at Doncaster Crown Court, and released Seecharan on bail.