Craig Anthony Anderson, 38, received one year and ten months when he was sentenced at the Old Bailey for one count of stalking and four of sexual assault.
He also received a ten-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) which prohibits him from being able to approach, sit or stand near lone women. He also received a two restraining orders.
The court heard how Anderson embarked on a spree of sexual offending between June and October 2025, targeting lone women travelling across London and surrounding regions.
On June 14, last year just before 4.00pm at Bank Underground Station, Anderson followed a young woman up the stairs and engaged her in unwanted conversation.
He asked for her name and phone number before telling her she looked "sexy".
The victim asked him to leave her alone before he then sexually assaulted her.
As he walked away from her, he stuck his tongue out at her and laughed as he headed through the station.
Just over a week later, on June 26, Anderson attempted to strike up a conversation with another young woman on board a train at Guildford, asking her for her social media account details.
The pair exchanged phone numbers, though he soon began to harass her over text for the next few weeks.
Declining his invitation to meet up, on July 15 he followed her from Epsom railway station onto the train to Victoria, verbally abusing her before he attempted to snatch her belongings.
Anderson followed her for the next part of her journey, forcing her to hide in the toilets at Canary Wharf until Anderson left.
He proceeded to regularly send her sexual messages and images to her mobile phone until his arrest in early October, 2025.
Then on the morning of August 2, Anderson approached a young woman exiting Liverpool Street station, tapping her on the arm to ask where she was going.
He attempted to ask her for her social media accounts, which she refused to give.
He then exclaimed that she was being difficult and requested to touch her.
She again refused, and Anderson proceeded to sexually assault her before walking off and leaving the station.
Just weeks later on August 29 at Westminster Underground station, Anderson approached a woman asking for directions to Finchley and followed her up the escalator before sexually assaulting her, laughing before turning to head back down the escalator.
On the evening of October 6 Anderson approached a woman on the platform at Purley railway station.
He asked her for directions to Gatwick Airport and continued to engage her in conversation, asking a slew of personal questions.
They both boarded the same train and he chose to sit next to her.
He then asked her for her mobile number and email address, to which she declined and said she wasn't interested.
He then asked what would she do if he tried to kiss her, and she said she would report him to the police.
Anderson then sexually assaulted her, and while she attempted to get out of her seat he blocked her path.
She was eventually able to escape and left the train at Redhill station.
British Transport Police (BTP) officers were able to identify Anderson from CCTV stills and he was pointed out by the victims in an identification parade as the man responsible for the series of offences.
He was arrested during an in person interview at the Passport Office, where he claimed he would be leaving the UK in a matter of weeks.
In the police car on the way to custody, and while under caution, Anderson proceeded to make derogatory comments about the women he targeted before claiming he had not been at the locations of the alleged assaults, despite the CCTV footage proving otherwise.
Detective Constable Libby Wildego said: “Anderson is a dangerous predator who preyed on women for his own sexual gratification.
“Just as he did throughout the assaults themselves, when we questioned him under caution he smirked throughout and offered no comment, highlighting the sheer lack of remorse for his actions.
"It is thanks to the brave victims who came forward and supported our investigation that we have seen Anderson sentenced for his horrific crimes.
“Despite his own behaviour in court where he voluntarily left before he received his sentence, I hope this result provides some sense of comfort for the victims.”
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