Man gets first sex-based harassment conviction

A train passenger who grabbed a woman's hair and asked if he could kiss her has been convicted in the first sex-based harassment charge brought by the British Transport Police (BTP).

David Stroud, 44, made sexually motivated comments to the woman on a train to London on 3 April, two days after a new law banning harassment motivated by a person's sex came into force.

Stroud, of Dartford, Kent, pleaded guilty to harassing the woman because of her sex at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court on Thursday and will be sentenced next month.

While under police caution, Stroud had attempted to pass his behaviour off as "just banter", the court heard.

Prosecutor Paul Okebu said that Stroud had sat next to the woman, who was on the phone to her boyfriend at the time, on a train which had left Hastings in East Sussex.

The court heard that Stroud was "constantly leaning onto the woman", telling her, "You're magical", before he grabbed her hair, which the victim "perceived to be sexual".

The woman said that she could smell alcohol on the defendant's breath.

Okebu said that the incident had made her feel "very uncomfortable" and "cornered", and that she had told Stroud to stop.

However, Stroud continued trying to make conversation before asking, "Can I kiss you?", to which the woman replied, "Absolutely not", the court heard.

The woman's boyfriend contacted BTP after hearing the comments over the phone.

Stroud, a water company technician, was later arrested at London Bridge railway station.

Alex Chowdhury, defending, said that his client had since "reflected" on his actions and realised the seriousness.

The new offence, under the Public Order Act 1986, covers intentional harassment directed at someone because of their sex, including where perpetrators target women and girls in public places, the Home Office previously said.

When the change in the law was announced, safeguarding minister Jess Phillips said that those guilty could face up to two years in prison.

Nathan Miebai, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "It is vital that women and girls feel safe in public spaces and able to live their lives without fear of harassment because of their sex.

"David Stroud made that impossible for one woman who was simply travelling home on the train and today he has faced the consequences of his actions.

"This first-of-its-kind conviction proves that through close collaboration across the criminal justice system, we can deliver outcomes like these for more victims and build a safer environment for everyone to be a part of."

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