A famous actress who was sexually assaulted while getting a massage in Soho has said she has "fundamentally changed" as a result of the ordeal amid her attacker being jailed for four years.
The woman, who is also a singer and whose identity is protected as a sexual offences victim, was groped by masseur Sundaralingam Koodalingam, 36, when getting treatment at the Rupert Jade Thai massage parlour in March 2023.
She was asked to strip down to just her underwear and a towel, before being subjected her to a series of sexual assaults on the treatment table.
At Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday Koodalingam, of Ruskin Avenue in Manor Park, east London, was sentenced to four years in prison after being convicted by a jury of sexual assault by penetration and sexual assault.
In a victim impact statement that was read to the court, the woman said the assault has "fundamentally changed" her and she has been left "untrusting".
She added: "My job needs me to be playful, open and light”, she said. “Creativity is stifled by insecurity.
"I don’t know if I will ever get back to who I was before that day. This man has taken away my trust, my innocence, and my ability to give everyone – especially a stranger who happens to be male – the benefit of the doubt.”
She told the court she suffers panic attacks and needed her father to accompany her on walks home from work in the aftermath of the attack.
"I look over my shoulder, expecting to be a victim of further abuse for speaking out against him," she said.
"A grown-ass woman in her 30s… feeling unsafe to walk home alone from work due to one pathetic man is unbelievable."
She said she needed therapy for anger issues, and detailed an incident when she “felt rage” at a stranger who winked and smiled at her.
The court heard Koodalingam, who comes from the Maldives, moved to the UK in 2021 with his visa sponsored by a company based in the Cotswolds.
Recorder Jeremy Brier set out how Koodalingam touched the woman intimately and groped her breasts and nipples, adding: "This was a frightening and terrifying ordeal."
At trial, Koodalingam claimed the actress had invented the sexual assaults, and even at sentence he continued to protest his innocence.
The star also detailed her struggles with how she initially responded to the attacks, saying she initially joked with a friend about the incident, and now recognises her response was “human, vulnerable, and honest” and she “did absolutely nothing wrong that day”.
Koodalingam's barrister, Ben Hargreaves, told the judge that Koodalingam faces an “especially hard” time in Britain’s “decrepit” prison system, as English is not his first language and he has never been behind bars before.
He has been on bail during legal proceedings, and was told he must serve two thirds of the four-year jail term.