Men arrested for taking upskirt pics on London Underground

Three men were arrested for taking pictures up women's skirts on the Tube last week.

The arrests were made as police target sex offenders carrying out abuse on London's transport network.

The men were caught by plain-clothes policemen at Green Park, Gunnersbury and Angel stations between 14-18 July.

The men were arrested for 'outraging public decency' by filming and taking pictures up women's skirts in unconnected separate incidents on London Underground.

Another man has been arrested and bailed for outraging public decency by masturbating in front of a woman at Kentish Town, reports London 24.

A further nine men were arrested for a variety of sexual assaults in the same week including two more incidents at Green Park, and one each at Waterloo, Clapham Junction, Hyde Park Corner, and London Bridge, as well as an assault on board a train between Stratford and Strood.

According to the Evening Standard, the arrests are part of an ongoing operation called Project Guardian to tackle sex crimes on London's trains, Tubes and buses.

Project Guardian was launched in April 2013. As well as tackling sex crime, it also hopes to improve customer safety and encourage victims of sexual abuse to report such crimes.

British Transport Police have seen a 26 per cent increase in the number of sex offenders being identified and a 31 per cent increase in the number of reported sex crimes on public transport since the initiative was launched.

British Transport Police, the City of London Police, the Met's Safer Transport Command and Transport for London are all involved in making London's transport system a safer place.

Chief Superintendent Paul Brogden, of the British Transport Police, said: "Our message is clear – we want passengers to feel confident on their journey and to know exactly where to turn when they need help.

"A lot of victims do not report their experiences to us, for a number of reasons. Some worry that they won't be taken seriously, or there is little that can be done to stop sexual crime, but this is not the case – you don't have to suffer in silence.

"We will always be there to listen and will do everything we can to find those responsible. Unwanted sexual behaviour on the transport network is completely unacceptable and we will do everything we can to support you and bring offenders to justice."

Most of the sexual offences recorded by police last year happened on buses.

Sex offences on London transport

Inspector Ricky Twyford believes the increasing popularity of smartphones was likely to be contributing to a rise in the number of cases involving 'upskirt' pictures.

He added: "If anybody sees someone acting in this manner they should report it to us, but if you're the person it is actually being done to the chances of you noticing are relatively slim because you are likely to be facing in the opposite direction."

Siwan Hayward, Transport for London's Deputy Director of Enforcement and On-Street Operations, said: "Overall our transport network is a safe, low crime environment. More than 10 million passengers use our public transport services each day with very few ever experiencing or witnessing crime. With our partners in the police we are working together to make travel in the capital even safer."

You can report any incident of a sexual nature on the Tube, trains, buses or DLR to British Transport Police by calling 0800 40 50 40 or if you feel unable to talk, you can text 61016 with details of what happened.

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