A 36-year-old Nigerian man, Babatunde Odutola, has been jailed for 44 weeks in the United Kingdom after exposing himself and masturbating in front of a lone woman on a train.
Odutola, who has no fixed address, was sentenced on Monday, September 14, 2026, at Manchester Magistrates’ Court, three days after the incident.
The British Transport Police (BTP) said in a statement on September 17 that he pleaded guilty to outraging public decency and to breaching a suspended sentence order.
The offence took place at about 7pm on Friday, September 11, on a train travelling through Cheshire to Manchester Piccadilly station.
The court heard that Odutola approached the woman, who was travelling alone, and stared at her in an intimidating manner. He became aggressive when she refused to engage with him.
Seated in a wheelchair, he then exposed himself and began masturbating while looking at her and telling her to “come over.”
A fellow passenger stepped in and led the distressed woman out of the carriage.
CCTV footage later showed Odutola continuing the act as other passengers walked through the carriage.
Police were alerted, and BTP officers arrested him when the train arrived at Manchester Piccadilly.
Detective Constable Leonidas Christoforou of the BTP said the incident must have been terrifying for the victim.
“Odutola is clearly an incredibly dangerous individual and his disturbing behaviour must have been terrifying for the victim, who he singled out when she was travelling on her own,” he said.
According to Christoforou, Odutola showed little remorse and denied the allegations when first interviewed by police. He said strong evidence, including CCTV footage and several witness accounts, left him with no option but to plead guilty in court.
The officer added that the offence was not an isolated one, as Odutola was already a registered sex offender.
“This was not a one-off from Odutola, who was already a registered sex offender, and this type of alarming, predatory behaviour simply will not be tolerated on our railways,” he said.
He said tackling such offenders was a top priority for the force, and urged passengers who experience or witness sexual offences on the railway to report them by texting 61016.
“We will always take action,” he said.
The BTP said Odutola was jailed within 72 hours of the incident.
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