PECKHAM MAN MICHAEL FINN SEXUALLY ASSAULTS 14-YEAR-OLD GIRL ON EUROSTAR FROM BRUSSELS TO LONDON

In September 2015, a disturbing incident occurred involving Michael Finn, a 66-year-old man residing on McDermott Road in Peckham, Southwark. Finn was accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl during a train journey on the Eurostar service traveling from Brussels to St Pancras International in London.

According to court reports, Finn engaged the young girl in conversation shortly after boarding the train. He sat beside her, introduced himself as ‘Mick,’ and attempted to initiate a dialogue by stating, “I’m not trying to chat you up or anything.” Despite his words, his actions soon made the girl feel uncomfortable. Finn proceeded to ask her personal questions about her school, her family, and her place of residence, which heightened her unease during the journey.

The situation escalated approximately an hour into the trip when Finn requested the girl to write down his phone number in her school notebook. She complied, but instead of giving her real contact details, she entered a fake number and omitted her surname. Finn then asked her to input her number into his phone, which she did with a false number to avoid revealing her true identity.

Finn’s intentions became more explicit as he told the girl that she should call him, promising to take her out and “show her a good time.” He suggested they could go to the beach, have some fish and chips, and even offered her a set of keys to his house if she ever decided to call him. His behavior continued to cross boundaries as he leaned in towards her, kissed her on the cheek, hugged her, and touched her inappropriately.

Following the incident, Finn was taken to court where he faced charges related to sexual assault. On September 4, at Blackfriars Crown Court, he was sentenced to be placed on the sex offenders register and received a suspended jail sentence. The court’s decision reflected the seriousness of his actions and the need to protect vulnerable individuals from such predatory behavior.

PC Mark Sutton, who was involved in the investigation, commented on the case, stating, “This man preyed on this young girl to fulfill his own sexual desires. It must have been a very frightening experience for her, but I am pleased she had the courage to report the incident and I would like to thank her for coming forward and helping us with the investigation. The sentence handed to Finn demonstrates that we do not tolerate any kind of unwanted sexual behaviour on the train network and that we encourage anyone who has experienced such behaviour to report it to us.”