The British Transport Police has announced that Steven Ross, from Northampton, has been jailed for 16 weeks after he exposed himself to a lone woman at Kettering railway station.

Steven appeared at Leicestershire Magistrates Court on the 6th April where he was found guilty of the offence as well as being in possession of a bladed article.

The 16 week sentence included six weeks for the exposure offence, and ten weeks for the possession of the bladed article.

Mr Ross was also made to sign the Sex Offenders Register for seven years.

Back on the 30th March, at around 6:20pm, a 23-year-old woman was on a train which terminated at Kettering, as she waited on the platform for the next train, she noticed Mr Ross on a bench, a few minutes later, the woman turned around to see that Mr Ross had pulled his pants down and was touching himself inappropriately.

He continued to do this, looking at the woman, until she walked away from Ross, down the platform, and phoned her friend who advised her to call the police.

The woman located two members of staff and told them what had happened, with one of the staff members escorting the woman onto a train to safety.

Steven was then spotted by staff boarding a train at Kettering on Monday 5th April, the British Transport Police was informed and officers met the train at Leicester and arrested him in connection to the offence.

He was then taken to custody where he was found to have a kitchen knife, and was subsequently arrested for possession of this.

BTP Detective Constable, Philip Burn, said: “This was a disgraceful and shocking incident during which a lone female was subjected to behaviour that no one should witness in a public place.

“Due to the victims’ actions of reporting the incident to rail staff and the police, it resulted in the male suspect being identified, arrested and sentenced all within eight days of the offence occurring, making the rail network a safer place for the travelling public.

“I would like to thank the members of rail staff who supported the victim immediately after the incident, and for their fast actions in calling the police when they recognised Ross boarding a train.

“I would like to encourage victims and witnesses of any type of sexual behaviour to report it by texting us discretely on 61016 or calling 999 in an emergency. No report is too small, and we will always take you seriously.”

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