Overview
- The defendant, Abdulmanon Aliev, was sentenced at Inner London Crown Court to 12 years in prison with a further two years on licence after a hearing on Tuesday that also placed him on the sex offenders register for life.
- A jury convicted Aliev in April of attempted rape, two counts of assault by penetration and three counts of sexual assault.
- Prosecutors told the court that on 16 June last year Aliev sat opposite the 13-year-old, used a phone translator app to approach her, followed her into an aisle seat that trapped her by the window and carried out a prolonged sexual assault until she escaped at London Fenchurch Street.
- British Transport Police tracked the case using hours of CCTV, plain-clothes officers identified and arrested Aliev in Peckham 11 days after the attack, his home was searched and clothing linked to the incident was seized.
- Prosecution statements and reporting say Aliev is a Tajik national who entered the UK in 2022 and had an unsuccessful asylum claim, and they indicate immigration action may be pursued following the criminal sentence while police praised the victim for reporting the assault.