A British man has been sentenced to a 12-month community order after becoming the first person convicted in a British Transport Police trial under new legislation targeting gender-motivated harassment.The BBC reported that David Stroud, 44, from Dartford, confessed to the crime at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court after an accident on a train heading from Hastings to London.This case represents the first criminal conviction in England and Wales under legislation that criminalizes intentional harassment of a person because of their gender in public places. Stroud was arrested two days after the law went into effect on April 1.Stroud approached a woman who was talking to her boyfriend on the train and sat next to her, prosecutors said. During the trip, he repeatedly leaned towards her, called her “witch” and grabbed her by the hair before asking: “Can I kiss you?”The woman rejected the offer, replied: “Absolutely not,” and asked him to stop, but he continued to interact with her, the court heard.In a victim impact statement read during the sentencing, the woman said the encounter had left her feeling “trapped, helpless and petrified”.
She told the court: “I always feel the need for company when I leave the house now. I can never go anywhere alone, simply because I am a woman.”The woman, who described herself as a survivor of child sexual abuse, said the experience left her “paralyzed with fear” and changed the way she approached daily activities.The court also heard that Stroud appeared to have been drinking at the time of the incident.
The victim said that his breath smelled of alcohol, and added that she felt frightened by his behavior.“Imagine a young woman of small stature when an older drunk man tries to sit on top of you. I was an unwilling recipient of this type of contact towards me,” she said in her statement.The woman’s friend informed British Transport Police after overhearing the conversation on the phone. Officers later arrested Stroud at London Bridge railway station.Stroud had previously admitted a separate 22-month stalking campaign and was on bail for stalking when the train incident occurred.He was sentenced on both charges on Tuesday. Magistrates ordered him to complete a 15-day rehabilitation programme, carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and comply with a 12-month community order.Speaking before the hearing, the victim said some people might dismiss Stroud’s behavior as drunken behavior or “banter”, but he said the outcome showed the importance of reporting such incidents.“This justice proves that it is worth reporting to the police,” she said. “Nothing will change if these crimes go unreported and go unpunished.”This crime falls within the provisions of the Public Order Law of 1986, which covers harassment motivated by a person’s sex, including incidents targeting women and girls in public places such as streets, public parks, and public transportation.