London offenders as 1 in 3 women sexually harassed on commute

The survey, commissioned by British Transport Police (BTP), also revealed that most sexual offending takes place during the evening rush hour period (5-7pm) in busy train carriages. 

Detective Chief Superintendent Paul Furnell said: “I’ll guarantee that most of us have told our daughters, mums, or friends to be careful on their way home when they’re travelling alone late at night – perhaps to share their journeys and stick to well-lit areas. 

“But we know that sexual harassment and offending can take place at any hour of the day, and our figures show that it’s most likely to happen at the busiest hours when carriages are most full. 

“This means we all have a part to play in taking our heads out of our phones or newspapers and being aware of what’s going on around us – and if we see something that isn’t right doing something about it, whether that’s intervening if you feel safe to do so or reporting it to police.” 

Our journalists are regularly in court covering cases where men have sexually harassed or sexually assaulted women on trains, tubes and buses across London. 

These include Harry Burgess, who tried to show off to friends as he urinated on a train seat, chucked the seat cushion in a man’s face and sexually assaulted a woman.   

After this behaviour was reported to police Burgess was jailed for 24 weeks. 

BTP’s survey revealed that half (51 per cent) of those who have been victims of sexual offending say that other passengers tried to help them, yet only one in five (18 per cent) people who have witnessed sexual harassment have reported it to police. 

Police have urged anyone who has witnessed unacceptable behaviour such as leering, catcalling, touching, pressing, upskirting or indecent exposure to report by texting 61016 or via the Railway Guardian app, and to interrupt to defuse the situation.

Hailu Getemariam, was recently jailed for 14 months after a woman intervened in an incident of sexual assault.

The 24-year-old sex offender had been repeatedly groping young women on trains and tubes across the capital.

His offending continued for some time until a woman he had groped moved away from him – only to see him then grope another woman. 

She filmed this sexual assault and Getemariam was subsequently convicted by a jury. 

DC Furnell said: “We’re not asking people to police the railway because that’s our job, but we need people to report what’s happening to us so we can take action. Reports provide us with the crucial information we need to identify crime hotspots and target our patrols to catch offenders and bring them to justice.” 

Unfortunately, many of the men in these men are persistent offenders, such as Bobby Garande who has 10 convictions for sexual offences – most of which took place on public transport throughout South London. 

Most recently, he was jailed for masturbating on a train. 

He was caught after a woman took a photo of him and when Garande got off at Bromley South she followed him until police arrived. 

Jacqueline Starr, Chief Executive of the Rail Delivery Group said: “Experiences of sexual harassment are sadly a reality for many women, but as an industry our message is clear, any form of sexual harassment on the rail network is completely unacceptable and we are working with the British Transport Police to confront this problem.”