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The judge said that Ramzi Barkat ‘sought to take advantage of a lone vulnerable woman’ (Joe Giddens/PA)
A "predator" who tried to rape a woman near Buckingham Palace was let go by police for a year despite being caught "red-handed", a judge said.
Ramzi Barkat, 54, tailed the woman, who was alone, out of St James's Park in the early hours of September 7 2024.
After his attempts to flirt with her were rejected, he tackled her to ground, grabbed her wrists and "straddled" her, His Honour Judge Justin Cole said.
he judge said that Barkat, who was born in Algeria, "sought to take advantage of a lone vulnerable woman" and "acted like a predator".
Barkat to seven years and three months' imprisonment (John Stillwell/PA)
Three "brave" young soldiers who were passing by stopped the attempted attack when they heard the woman's screams, Southwark Crown Court heard.
But sentencing Barkat to seven years and three months' imprisonment on Friday, the judge said that the police investigating the matter had shown a "catalogue of incompetencies".
He told the court that after the complainant was interviewed, Barkat was released either on bail or under investigation.
'A continuing danger to the public'
The judge said: "He was simply let go in a situation in which frankly he had been caught red-handed and presented a continuing danger to the public."He added: "The bottom line is this man was set free for period of a year, a year to do what he likes, in a situation where he had attacked a lone female in a park.
"The public would be appalled to hear of such laxity."
