Police Appeal - Do You Know This Man?

Woman inappropriately touched and followed to Noel Road

British Transport Police (BTP) detectives have released CCTV images of a man they want to trace after a “highly disturbing” incident in which a woman was inappropriately touched on a Tube train before being followed from a station.

The incident took place between 9pm and 10pm on Friday, 3 July.

Detective Sergeant Margaret Storey said: “A 23-year-old woman was travelling home on a westbound Central line train. Shortly after the train left Marble Arch, a man sat next to her and made sexually suggestive comments before inappropriately touching her. The woman moved down the carriage and the man’s behaviour stopped.

“When the woman got off the train at West Acton, she was followed by the man. He followed her from the station into nearby Noel Road, shouting further suggestive remarks, before a passer by intervened and the woman was able to get away.”

DS Storey added: “This was a highly disturbing incident and one that was, understandably, very upsetting for the woman involved.

“We are now appealing for the public’s assistance in helping us identify a man from CCTV images. We need to speak to him about what happened as we believe he will be able to assist us with our enquiries. If you recognise him, give us a call.”

Anyone with information should contact British Transport Police on 0800 40 50 40, or text 61016, quoting background reference T/B5 of 05/08/2015. Information can also be passed to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

BTP recently jointly launched the Report it to stop it campaign with Transport for London, the Metropolitan Police and City of London Police, which aims to further increase the reporting of unwanted sexual behaviour on public transport in the capital.

The high-profile online campaign aims to build on the success of Project Guardian, a long-term initiative to increase awareness and confidence amongst the public to report sexual offences. Particularly those offences which are often unreported, such as sexual touching, exposure, outraging public decency, lewd comments, leering and harassment.

Every day, plain clothes and uniformed BTP officers patrol the transport network to identify offenders and prevent crime. Victims of unwanted sexual behaviour can report it to BTP by text on 61016 or by calling 0800 40 50 40.

Find out more and watch a video which asks you to decide when you would ‘report it to stop it’ – http://report-it.tumblr.com

5th August 2015