‘Despicable’ pervert who flashed at woman on Tube is jailed | UK | News

The “despicable” pervert who terrorized women by pulling down his pants on the subway was sentenced to 14 months in prison. Ayman Yanoussi, 21, exposed himself to women at a station and on a train and tried to talk to other women “within a few minutes that same morning.”

Yanoussi, who came to the country in 2016, was banned from approaching women he did not know in public at the hearing held in early December, but he overturned this ban 12 days later. On December 28 last year, Yanoussi exposed himself to a lone woman on a platform on East London’s Upminster Bridge and masturbated in front of her before following her into a train carriage.

He then traveled around London via the District and Circle lines, repeatedly trying to talk to women and then exposing himself to another woman between Baker Street and Goldhawk Road.

Inner London Crown Court heard he was arrested at Hammersmith station after the second woman he exposed reported him.

Yanoussi admitted to these charges on February 18.

At the time, he had breached a suspended sentence he had received just two weeks earlier for secretly recording women four times with a camera hidden under their clothes at Bank Metro station in April 2024.

For these offenses he was sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment, suspended for 18 months.

He also has a previous conviction for sexual assault, for which he was sentenced in 2023 for slapping a woman’s bottom in public.

Bespectacled Yanoussi, wearing a white sweatshirt, appeared in the dock and spoke to confirm his name and admit he had violated the suspended sentence.

Prosecutor Richard Witcombe said: “The offenses all occurred during the day on the same journey on December 28, with the first offense occurring at around 11.20am.”

Describing the initial exposure, Richard Witcombe said: “The victim met Mr Yanoussi at the station in Upminster in the morning. He met Mr Yanoussi on a bench. He saw her bottom was exposed, his trousers were around his ankles when he saw her. “The man was masturbating.

“Shortly afterwards he boarded the train, and Mr. Yanoussi boarded the same carriage. This was followed by Mr. Yanoussi’s subway ride… where he came into contact with women who were strangers to him and who were passengers.”

Footage from later in the journey was played in court; The first clip showed a mostly empty tube car, with Yanoussi walking down and sitting across from a woman.

In further clips, he was seen trying to contact two more women, both of whom appeared uninterested.

The judge noted that the third woman “stood up and walked away as if she were retching.”

Mr Bowyer said: “The second and subsequent exposure occurred an hour and a half later on the other side of London, approaching Baker Street. The victim boarded a train with a relatively empty rear end.”

Yanoussi moved to sit across from her, pulled down his sweatpants and began masturbating.

The victim confronted him and he denied doing anything.

Mr Bowyer said: “He made the disclosure; he was taken into custody within minutes of the following.”

Reading personal victim impact statements, the prosecution said the women were “shocked and disturbed” by what had happened, which increased their fears for the safety of others, especially young women traveling alone.

Defense lawyer Natalie Turner said: “Mr Yanoussi wishes to apologize to the victims of these crimes. He is ashamed of his actions, nothing can excuse what he did, so it is not possible for him to confess to his crimes. He was born and raised in Spain and came to the UK in 2016, he has full settled status.”

Judge Mr Recorder Jonathan Higgs told the pervert: “When you were given the suspended sentence you understood that if you breached you would go to prison. You are a sexual threat to women. These are crimes of intimidating women, taking pleasure in intimidating women. “This type of behavior really upsets women, it makes it difficult for them to go out and live an ordinary life, it scares them to have people like you hanging around.

“On December 16, you were given a chance and you flatly refused. You say you were under the influence of drugs, but you were not exposed by chance, it was a conscious and conscious choice of yours. This was not a one-time thing, an hour and a half later you were still doing this, scaring women like this, deliberately approaching women.”

He sentenced Yanoussi to 14 months in prison and said if he had been older or if he reoffends he will face “much longer” sentences.

Detective Constable Ian Hourihan said: “Yanoussi’s actions that day were despicable. He sought sexual gratification on the railway at the expense of dozens of women and other passengers. I am extremely pleased to see him behind bars and want to recognize the courage of the women who came forward to report his actions and support our investigation so we can secure justice.

“We believe other women may have also been targeted by Yanoussi that day and I would like to encourage them to come forward and report their experiences so we can get justice for them too. If you have witnessed anything similar or seen any sexual crime on the rail network, I ask you to report it to us confidentially by texting 61016. We take every report seriously and officers may be sent to intercept trains and arrest offenders.”