TAHA DERWISH RECEIVES 15-WEEK SENTENCE FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT

Chester Crown Court sentenced Taha Derwish to 15 weeks in prison after he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl. The court heard that Derwish approached a group of teenage girls on Nantwich Road in Crewe on 24 September 2025. Cheshire Police said he made repeated unwanted advances before touching one girl on the bottom. The girls had told him they were 15, according to police. They contacted Cheshire Police, whose officers arrested Derwish within 10 minutes of the assault.

Derwish appeared for sentencing by video link from HMP Altcourse in Fazakerley, Merseyside. At an earlier court appearance in September 2025, magistrates heard that he had appealed a refusal of his asylum application. They also heard that he had been staying at the Royal Hotel in Crewe. Cheshire Police said when officers charged Derwish that he was a Libyan national. The available account does not confirm whether authorities will deport him after he serves his sentence.

After the sentencing, Detective Sergeant George Booth commended the girls for contacting police. “Their swift actions allowed officers to attend the scene and arrest Derwish within minutes of receiving the call,” he said. Booth said Derwish’s actions had left the girls shaken and upset. He said they had recognised his behaviour as unacceptable and reported it immediately. No confirmed decision on Derwish’s immigration status after his sentence was given.