Part of operation to protect transport users from harassment

A 44-year-old man has been arrested and bailed in connection with a historic sexual assault on a District line train between Westminster and Turnham Green tube stations.

His arrest was part of an operation which saw fifteen people arrested earlier this month during an operation to tackle unwanted sexual behaviour on London’s trains, Tubes and buses.

Project Guardian was a multi agency initiative involving British Transport Police (BTP), Metropolitan Police Safer Transport Command (STC), City of London Police and Transport for London (TfL).

They have been working together to improve the levels of reporting among victims of sexual offences and to create an environment on the Capital’s transport network which does not tolerate intimidation and sexual harassment.

The week of action, which ran from Monday, 2 December to Sunday, 8 December, involved uniformed officers stepping up patrols and advising the travelling public about Project Guardian.

Plain clothes officers were also deployed to identify any suspicious behaviour across the transport network.

The project team was set up in April following a TfL safety and security survey that revealed around 15 per cent of females have experienced unwanted sexual behaviour on the network, with around 90 per cent not reporting it to police.

Superintendent Nicki Watson, of British Transport Police, said: “We hope victims of sexual offences feel more confident to report these types of incidents to us and know that they will always be taken seriously. If someone has made you feel uncomfortable on your journey, or if you have witnessed an incident, reporting it to police can help us target the perpetrator and prevent it happening to another passenger.”

Chief Superintendent Sultan Taylor, Safer Transport Command, said: "We want to make it clear that the MPS, BTP and TfL will not tolerate any incidents of unwanted sexual behaviour on public transport. The results from the week of action show that we are committed to investigating all sexual offences and bring offenders to justice."

To report an incident of a sexual nature to British Transport Police call 0800 40 50 40 or text 61016 with details of what happened. For an incident that has occurred away from the railway network, call 101. In an emergency always dial 999.

December 13, 2013