Overview
- The sentencing, delivered on Tuesday, June 9, found 44-year-old David Stroud guilty of intentionally harassing a woman on a train after he grabbed her hair and asked to kiss her.
- Stroud received a 12-month community order with 15 days of rehabilitation activity, 150 hours of unpaid work, a 90-day alcohol monitoring tag, a five-year restraining order for a separate stalking victim, and court costs instead of immediate jail time.
- Section 4B of the Public Order Act 1986, which came into force on April 1 to criminalise intentional harassment because of a person’s sex, was used for the first time in this prosecution and carries a maximum two-year prison term.
- British Transport Police say they have made 26 arrests under the new offence across the rail network since the law began, and prosecutors and police are using this case to signal priority enforcement on public transport.
- The victim told the court the attack has left her struggling to use public transport and suffering panic attacks, and prosecutors say the conviction fills a legal gap between non-physical harassment and sexual assault while encouraging victims to report wrongdoing.