A train passenger who grabbed a young woman’s hair and asked “can I kiss you?” has been sentenced in the first-ever conviction for harassment based on a person’s sex.
David Stroud, 44, made sexually motivated comments to the victim on a train to London on April 3, two days after a new law came into force banning harassment because of a person’s sex.
He pleaded guilty to harassing the woman at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court, which heard Stroud sat next to the woman, who was on the phone to her boyfriend at the time, on a train which left Hastings at about 8.50pm.
The 44-year-old father-of-two had previously pleaded guilty to a separate 22-month stalking campaign, the court heard on Tuesday.
He had been on bail for stalking when he harassed the victim on the train.
Stroud was sentenced for both offences and was spared jail, receiving a 12-month community order and being told to complete 15 days of rehabilitation activity requirement.
The defendant, of Dartford, Kent, tried to make conversation with the woman, who attempted to ignore him as she was a lone female travelling, the court heard.
He was “constantly leaning on to the woman” and got closer, telling her “you’re magical” and grabbing her hair, which the victim “perceived to be sexual”.
The woman said she could smell alcohol on the defendant’s breath.
Stroud, a father-of-two, told the woman “you’re never going to find someone who loves your hair as much as I do”, and she replied, “I already have someone”.
The woman’s boyfriend heard the comments over the phone and called the British Transport Police, who arrested Stroud at London Bridge station.
While under caution Stroud said: “It’s just banter, we had banter together, do you know what I mean?” the court heard.
He also said: “I’ve done nothing wrong to her.”
The new offence, under Section 4B of 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, including streets, parks and public transport.
Stroud was also ordered to carry out 150 hours’ unpaid work and be fitted with an alcohol abstinence monitoring tag for 90 days.
District Judge Caroline Jackson also made a five-year restraining order against him for the stalking victim.
Olivia Rose, deputy chief Crown prosecutor and the Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) lead on stalking, said she hopes the law and Stroud’s prosecution send a message to would-be offenders: “If you think you are going to get away with sex-based harassment because you consider it just to be friendly banter, it isn’t.
“This is a serious offence and you will be prosecuted.
She added: “I want to send a message to victims, so they feel that they can come forward, because they will be taken seriously.”
