Muhammad Sheikhi is accused of attacking two women in Falkirk in the early hours of November 30, 2025.
A Syrian asylum seeker accused of sexually assaulting two women in Falkirk last year behaved in a “predatory” manner towards them, a trial has heard.
Muhammad Sheikhi, 23, is alleged to have attacked one woman in Kerse Lane, close to the Hotel Cladhan where he was staying.
He is then said to have sexually assaulted a second woman with intent to rape her in Kerse Lane and Bellsmeadow skate park.
Sheikhi, who came to the UK by boat, is accused of having carried out both attacks in the early hours of Sunday, November 30 2025.
He denies all the charges against him.
Giving his closing speech at a trial at Stirling Sheriff Court on Thursday, prosecutor Jamie Hilland said there were “striking” similarities in the accounts given by the two women, neither of whom knew each other.
“I suggest that the evidence demonstrates that on the early evening of November 30 last year, the accused behaved in a predatory manner towards these two women and he sexually assaulted them,” Mr Hilland said.
“There are compelling similarities between the two crimes.
“These were so closely linked in time and circumstances as to form part of a single course of criminal conduct systematically pursued by the accused.”
He said both women were in their early 20s and both were alone on Kerse Lane after being on nights-out in Falkirk town centre.
He went on: “On their evidence the accused approached both women, he’s tried to give them his phone. He tried to get them to add him on Snapchat.
“In both cases he’s tried to corner the complainer, and he then sexually assaulted both of them.”
The prosecutor said Sheikhi’s alleged actions had left both women “distressed”, reminding them of a phone call one of them had made to her father following the alleged assault.
“(Her father) said she could hardly talk, she could hardly breathe. It was the point where he was struggling to understand her,” Mr Hilland said.
“She told him she had been sexually assaulted at the railway bridge by a man who put his hand under her skirt and tried to kiss her.”
He also addressed the allegation Sheikhi intended to rape one of the women, saying it was “pretty obvious” what his intentions were when he allegedly pinned her against a tree and put his hands under her clothing.
“This only comes to an end because she pushes him and runs away,” he said.
“The accused doesn’t stop.”
In his closing speech, Sheikhi’s lawyer Paul Keenan called on the jury to acquit his client of both charges, saying the evidence against him was “flawed throughout”.
He cast doubt on the credibility of both complainers, saying both had been drinking for hours before the alleged assaults were said to have taken place.
Of one of the women, he said: “You would need to rely on the testimony of a complainer who was drunk at the material time, such that she was unsteady on her feet.”
Mr Keenan said the same woman had spent as long as 30 minutes at her friend’s door following the alleged assault, talking to him through the letterbox.
He said during that time she made no reference to a sexual assault having taken place and only talked about having been followed.
He also said Sheikhi remained standing nearby while this conversation was taking place, which he said was not consistent with someone who had allegedly sexually assaulted her.
He asked the jury: “If Sheikhi had sexually assaulted her with the intention of raping her, does it make sense for him to be hanging about while she’s talking with other people?”
He added: “I would say not.”
He suggested the evidence instead points to Sheikhi having been “looking out for a girl who had too much to drink and whose high heel was broken”.
Mr Keenan reminded members of the jury that where they have any doubt about Sheikhi’s guilt they have to acquit him of what he said are “serious charges”.
“You judge this case based only on the evidence, you don’t judge this case based on prejudice or based on sympathy,” he told them.
“On the evidence before you, I say you simply cannot convict Muhammad Sheikhi on these charges. The evidence simply is not good enough.”
Sheikhi denies all the charges against him.
The trial, before Sheriff Keith O’Mahony and a jury, continues.
