Man sexually assaults woman on Tube platform after 'stalking her'
A man has been given a six-month suspended prison sentence and placed on the sex offenders register for seven years after assaulting a woman on a busy platform at Green Park station in London.
Mazvydas Berankis, 33, of Linacre Road in Brent, London, was also ordered to do 150 hours community service after pleading guilty to sexual assault.
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At a hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, 15 September, the court heard Berankis sexually assaulted a 32-year-old woman at Green Park Underground station on Tuesday, 12 May.
The court was told the victim was travelling home from work on the Piccadilly line at around 9.30pm, when she noticed Berankis staring at her.
He followed her off the train at Green Park, continuing to stalk her as she made her way to the Victoria line.
The woman was so concerned by this behaviour, the court heard, that she walked the length of the platform to be near to other people.
This did not deter Berankis, who stood next to her and sexually assaulted her as a train approached, the court was told.
The woman managed to push him away and get on the train before Berankis could follow.
Speaking after sentencing, Detective Constable Andy Parkinson said: "We take absolutely every report of inappropriate sexual behaviour seriously and will always investigate.
"I would like to commend the woman in this case for telling us about this assault, and encourage others to follow her example.
"In this case we were able to utilise CCTV to help us find the person responsible.
"The message is clear: unwanted sexual behaviour is not acceptable. If you commit an offence, we will do everything in our power to bring you to justice."
Siwan Hayward, TfL's Deputy Director of Enforcement and On-Street operations, said: "Thanks to the courageous actions of this victim reporting this sex offender to the British Transport Police, he was arrested and sentenced.
"We encourage all victims of sexual harassment on the transport network to report it to stop it. All reports to the police will be taken seriously and the information given can help catch offenders."
BTP recently launched the 'Report it to Stop it' campaign across the country, 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.
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