A drunken sex pest, who claimed a female train passenger whose skirt he lifted up provoked him by flashing her legs, has been locked up.
After drinking half a bottle of vodka Leon Pawlica, 59, boarded a train from London Victoria to West Croydon at 8.30am on May 22.
He approached the victim and tried to engage her in conversation.
Feeling uncomfortable, the victim moved away, and Pawlica attempted to speak to another woman on the train.
When the train stopped at Crystal Palace and the victim got up to leave, Pawlica lifted her skirt and sexually assaulted her.
She challenged him and he followed her off the train and through the station.
The victim asked station staff for help who called the police and he was arrested nearby following a search of the area.
Pawlica was convicted at City of London Magistrates Court of one count of sexual assault.
He was sentenced to 20 weeks in prison and was ordered to sign the sex offenders register for seven years and pay £775 costs.
Pawlica was also handed a seven-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order, which prevents him from carrying open alcohol and sitting next to or opposite a lone female on public transport.
In his police interview, Pawlica firstly claimed he was too drunk to remember the incident before accusing the victim of “sexually provoking it herself…because her legs were open.”
Detective Sergeant Dan Holmes of British Transport Police’s Sexual Offences Unit said: “Thankfully we police a CCTV rich environment and this blatant sexual assault was captured entirely on camera.
“Pawlica knew he had no defence, but his attempt to blame the completely innocent victim, who was left understandably distressed by the incident, is utterly reprehensible.
“It’s no surprise the court saw straight through this and I am pleased to see Pawlica handed a custodial sentence.
“I hope it serves as a strong reminder that sexual offenders absolutely won’t be tolerated on the railway.”
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