Drunken pest sentenced after sexually assaulting woman - Hertfordshire

A drunken pest who determinedly bothered a lone woman on a late night train before sexually assaulting her has been sentenced, following a British Transport Police investigation.

William Conway, 30, and of Digswell Park Road, Welywn Garden City, pleaded guilty to sexual assault at Stevenage Magistrates’ Court and was sentenced on 27 September to 22 weeks in prison, suspended for two years.

On 23 September 2020 the victim was travelling on a train from King’s Cross at 12.24am when Conway approached her and began touching her rucksack which was on the seat next to her – telling her how easy it would be to put a tracker on it and follow her.

He continued to pester her, and made lewd, sexualised comments about her body.

The victim told him she found this weird and asked him to stop, and Conway proceeded to then pick up her bag and begin grinding against it in the aisle, before licking it from bottom to top.

Conway then grabbed the victim’s head in his hands, and the court heard she was forced to pull back so hard she hit the back of her head on the window. Conway then lunged at her and sexually assaulted her.

He ran off the train at Welwyn North before taking his top off and dancing on the platform.

The victim took a photo of Conway on the platform which was issued to the press by detectives and used to identify him with the help of the public.

Detective Inspector Andy Pallett said: “It’s frankly beyond belief that anyone could subject a lone woman to such sustained and disturbing behaviour while she is simply trying to travel home in peace.

“Conway was clearly exceptionally inebriated at the time and in his police interview claimed he couldn’t recall anything untoward that night. Thankfully we police a CCTV rich environment and officers were able to show him the horrifying incident in its entirety, meaning he had no choice but to accept his involvement and plead guilty.

“Tackling sexual offending and harassment is our top priority and we will always take a zero tolerance approach to incidents like this on the railway network. If you are ever made to feel uncomfortable while travelling or subjected to unwanted behaviour you can text us discreetly on 61016.”