Punishable Offence By Law Staring On London Underground

About a month ago, the force secured a conviction after a woman travelling on a train from Reading reported that a man was “continuously staring” at her. Dominik Bullock, 26, was sentenced to 22 weeks in prison.

Due to this incident and many more staring on the London Underground can be a gateway to "unhealthy sexual behaviours" and must be prosecuted, a senior British Transport Police (BTP) officer has said.

A recent campaign by Transport for London was criticised for including “staring” alongside other unwanted sexual behaviours, such as up skirting and touching.

The proposals came following a 175 per cent increase in reports of sexual offences on Britain’s transport network since the end of lockdown.

Det Supt Sarah White, who leads BTP’s sexual offences team, dismissed the criticism and warned that her force is receiving daily reports of individuals committing sexual offences, including staring, across the country.

Bullock, recently released on licence from prison, refused to move out of the way and blocked the woman's exit when she told him to stop looking at her.

He was found guilty of causing intentional harassment, alarm or distress at Reading Magistrates' Court.

DS White warned that the force will pursue other suspects, as individuals who stare are “starting to show behaviours that are unhealthy”.

DS White said: “It’s human nature to stare at things. However, it’s very different when someone is staring, leering, or there’s a sexual motivation.

“We want to know about that staring because that is the behaviour that suggests to me that someone is thinking about a sexual behaviour that supports that staring.”

Encouraging people to report incidents, she said: “We will record them as crimes and we will investigate them - and we have had successful prosecutions in that field.”