NORTH WALSHAM MAN SEXUALLY ASSAULTED TRAIN PASSENGERS
A man has been banned from sitting next to lone women on public transport after sexually assaulting female train passengers.William Horsfield, 45, groped one woman, rubbed the legs of another under the table, while another was followed after getting off the train to get away from him.
He targeted the women, two of whom were in their teens, as they travelled alone on journeys between North Walsham, Sheringham and Norwich.
Norwich Magistrates' Court was told on each occasion he wore sunglasses which the women believed was to disguise him eyeing them up.
His creepy behaviour also included asking quiz questions, telling one woman who got an answer wrong: “Naughty, I’m going to have to spank your bum.” Horsfield, of Vicarage Road in North Walsham, pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual assault which took place on November 26 and 27 last year.
Sally Harris, prosecuting, said he had deliberately chosen to sit either opposite or next to a female passenger.
On one occasion he had spread his legs so they were repeatedly rubbing against those of a 17-year-old student.
Another journey saw him sit opposite a 43-year-old before touching her thighs, pushing his foot against her and moving his hands inside his coat which she believed may have been him masturbating.
He also grabbed the hips of an 18-year-old shop worker as she attempted to escape his attention.
In a statement read in court she said the experience had left her paranoid and so terrified of travelling alone.
His behaviour had “escalated from staring to touching to following me from the train into the town centre”, she added.
Magistrates sentenced him to 24 weeks suspended for 18 months with rehabilitation requirements and 100 hours unpaid work.
A five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order also stops him sitting next to or opposite any lone female on any form of public transport except where other seats are not available.
It also bans him from sitting next to women and girls in train stations.
He was also placed on the sex offenders register for seven years.
James Burrows, mitigating, said: “He is absolutely appalled and disgusted about his behaviour and the impact it has had on others.” He said a diagnosed delusional disorder had a significant impact on his actions at a time when he was not being treated for it.
