Teenager jailed for four years and eight months for sexual assaults on London Underground

An 18-year-old man who sexually assaulted four women on the London Underground in August 2024 was jailed for four years and eight months after a trial at Isleworth Crown Court.

Prosecutors said Hadi Al Koumi carried out the attacks between August 6 and August 8, targeting women at or on trains at St John’s Wood, Green Park, East Acton and on a service between Greenford and Perivale. In one incident recorded on CCTV, the defendant walked away after a woman turned to face him and then returned to wink at her, the court heard.

Court evidence and CCTV linked Al Koumi to all four assaults. One victim managed to escape after throwing a glass at him as train doors opened. British Transport Police officers arrested Al Koumi on August 27 following inquiries. He was found guilty of one count of sexual assault after a trial and had previously pleaded guilty to three further counts.

In addition to the prison term, Al Koumi was handed a six-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and will be required to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life. Detective Sergeant Matthew Nolan of the British Transport Police said Al Koumi had "taken deliberate advantage of the rail network in order to assault multiple women for his own sexual gratification" and described him as a "dangerous predator." Nolan added that the force would continue patrols and plain-clothes operations on the network to protect travelling members of the public.

The conviction comes amid rising reports of crime on the London Underground. Transport figures show 16,288 offences were reported on the network between January and August 2024, a 13% increase on the same period in 2023. The cases have fuelled concern about safety on public transport in the capital.

Other recent prosecutions on the transport network include the jailing of a 53-year-old man, Liam McGuicken, who was convicted after CCTV showed him snatching a purse from a deaf woman in her 80s at Westminster station. He received a 16-month sentence. Separately, footage of a large fight at the entrance to Highbury and Islington station in July, which showed bystanders trying to intervene as people were dragged and struck, prompted further debate about policing and passenger safety.

The British Transport Police has emphasised a zero-tolerance approach to sexual offences on the rail network and highlighted its use of uniformed and plain-clothes officers to deter and detect offending. The court’s sentence in Al Koumi’s case reflects judicial consideration of the repeated and predatory nature of the offences, prosecutors said.